More journalists were killed today by Israeli airstrikes that began pummeling the Gaza Strip last week. According to multiple reports, three journalists lost their lives in separate airstrikes targeting cars carrying members of the press. Ma’an reports:

Mahmoud al-Koumi and Husam Salameh, both cameramen for al-Aqsa TV, were killed in an airstrike on a car near al-Wihda towers in the Gaza City.

Both men were 30-years-old and the father of four children.

Palestinian press freedom group Mada said the journalists were traveling in an Al-Aqsa TV car marked with a press sign.Two others were injured in the strike, medics said.

Another airstrike killed Muhammad Abu Aisha, the director of Al-Quds Educational Radio, in his car in Deir al-Balah.

The fact that the journalists were local and worked for an Arabic media outlet is significant given the exchange that took place on Al Jazeera yesterday between Israeli spokesperson, Mark Regev, and the news anchor. They were discussing Israel’s repeated attacks on media buildings that on Sunday injured at least six journalists, one of whom lost his leg. Here is the conversation from the Huffington Post: [emphasis mine]

Speaking to Al Jazeera’s Darren Jordon, Israeli spokesman Mark Regev defended the strikes.

“We don’t target journalists,” he said. “We target Hamas.”

“Rockets don’t stop at a roof,” Jordon said in response. “You’ve got the intelligence that journalists were all over that building. It’s never going to be precise enough that you can’t stop injuring people below the roof.”

“As far as I know, no foreign journalists were hurt whatsoever,” Regev said. “We were surgical, we took out the target that we wanted to take out.”

“You can’t sit there and say no journalists were injured,” Jordon replied sharply. “One person had their leg blown off. That is a fact.”

“Maybe we have a discussion about who is a journalist,” Regev said. He called Al-Aqsa, one of the outlets targeted in the strikes, a “Hamas command and control facility,” adding, “Just as in other totalitarian regimes, the media is used by the regime for command and control and also for security purposes. From our point of view, that’s not a legitimate journalist.“

My first thought upon hearing Regev’s “legitimate journalist” remark was that it sounds so similar to Indiana Rep. Todd Akin’s comment about “legitimate rape.” Just like certain people think rape is only “legitimate” when committed in a dark alley by a brutal man of color, other certain people seem to think journalists are only “legitimate” when they’re from western countries which happen to report on Israel in a more positive light. But I digress. Back to the interview:

“There were foreign journalists in that building,” Jordon said. “There were foreign journalists near to that building.”

“None of whom were hurt,” Regev said.

“What are you saying, that a local Arab journalist’s life is any less than an international journalist?” Jordon asked.

“Unconditionally, no. We see all journalists as legitimate people,” Regev responded, after prodding from Jordon. “We respect the free press … if you can bring me someone who is a bona fide journalist who was injured, I want to know about it.”

“You seem to be saying that Palestinians can’t have a free press too,” Jordon shot back. “Will Israel apologize for the injuries caused in this attack?”

“Israel does not target journalists, and I think there are very legitimate questions about Hamas using journalists as human shields,” Regev said.

“Let me remind you, journalists are not armed combatants,” Jordon said. “Those journalists have a job to get the story out … you clearly are targeting the media, aren’t you? You’re shooting the messenger.”

“Not true at all,” Regev replied.

First, I want to say kudos to Darren Gordon for doing what American media outlets are incapable of: aggressively questioning an Israeli spokesperson instead of letting him make false statements unchallenged (I’m talking about you CNN and MSNBC). Second, it’s almost laughable how Israel’s go-to argument for everything when it’s backed into a corner is “Hamas was using them as human shields,” especially since investigations have revealed Israel’s use of Palestinian civilians, as young as 11, as human shields. Third, media outlets should be up in arms that Israel is deliberately attacking journalists, but I have yet to see a single western media outlet voice objection to the Israeli spokespeople regularly on their programs.

Prior to the strikes that killed the three journalists, Al Jazeera English correspondent, Nicole Johnston, tweeted that Israel warned press not to get into cars with members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

I’m not sure how reporters are supposed to carry out their work when they’re threatened with death if they interact with the main players in the conflict they’re covering, in this case Hamas. Then again, this is likely Israel’s goal. The pictures emanating from the Gaza strip are horrific, to say the least, and Israel has a well documented history of obstructing media coverage, both passively (denying journalists access to Gaza during Operation Cast Lead) and violently as we’re seeing now. And it’s not isolated to Gaza.

Journalists covering West Bank protests against the assault on Gaza have been physically assaulted by Israeli forces. Ma’an reports:

Palmedia cameraman Samer Hamad, photographers Mousa Al-Shaaer and Luay Sababa, who works with Ma’an, were obstructed from reporting on clashes between protesters and Israeli forces in Dar al-Salah on Monday.

“The soldiers were pushing us and they put their hands on the cameras whenever we tried filming. They took my car keys until I stop coverage, but they returned them later. We told them that we are journalists, but they did not care and continued to prevent us from coverage and pushing us,” Hamad told Mada.

In Jabal Al-Mokaber in Jerusalem, a female Israeli officer attempted to assault Muna Hasan, a correspondent of Raya FM radio, during Monday clashes, Mada said.

A day earlier, French Agency photographer Mahfouz Abu Turk and fellow agency colleague Ahmed Grabula were confronted by Israeli soldiers while covering demonstrations at Qalandiya checkpoint, Abu Turk told Mada.

“I noticed that two soldiers are talking , laughing and looking at me, I felt that they were planning to target me, so I tried to withdraw from the region, but a sniper fired at me bullet with iron coated with rubber hitting my neck,” he said

“Fortunately I was wearing a leather jacket and the belt of the camera saved my neck, I received treatment in the field.

“I’ve been a photographer for 30 years, for the second time I feel that I’m targeted for killings by the Israeli occupation forces only for covering events.”

Also Sunday, Palestine TV correspondent Ali Dar Ali was hit by a rubber bullet in his waist while reporting on clashes near Ofer military base.

“We have been deliberately being targeted where the press signs were obvious, and I was holding the microphone and the cameraman was holding a camera. There is no doubt that we are journalists, Ali said”

Mada condemned attacks on journalists as a violation of international law, and called on the international community to immediately intervene to protect journalists.

It appears, at least from this report, that the journalists Israel is targeting in the West Bank are also mostly arab. So I guess we’ll just have to wait for Israel to “accidentally” assault a blonde, blue-eyed, accentless journalist from the New York Times for the American establishment media to give a shit.