IOF intentionally killed journalists and their families in Gaza: CPJ

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Guardian
22 Dec 2023 01:30
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The CPJ reports that at least 68 journalists and other media workers were killed in Gaza and southern Lebanon since the beginning of the Israeli aggression.

A relatives bids farewell during the funeral of Palestine TV journalist Mohammed Abu Hatab and 11 family members the day after they were killed when their home was hit in the Israeli bombardment of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Nov. 3, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has accused the Israeli occupation forces of targeting journalists and their families in Gaza, leading to the highest death toll of media workers in any recent war.

The CPJ reported that at least 68 journalists and other media workers were killed in Gaza and southern Lebanon since the beginning of the Israeli aggression.

During the initial 10 weeks of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the number of journalists killed surpassed the annual total in any single country, it stressed.

“CPJ is particularly concerned about an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families by the Israeli military. In at least one case, a journalist was killed while clearly wearing press insignia in a location where no fighting was taking place. In at least two other cases, journalists reported receiving threats from Israeli officials and Israel Forces officers before their family members were killed,” the CPJ detailed in its statement.

The Committee urged "Israel" to “end the longstanding pattern of impunity in cases of journalists killed by the IDF.”

"Israel" has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, constituting approximately 1% of Gaza's population, with over 8,000 of them being children.

In the same context, the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders has cautioned that “journalism is in the process of being eradicated in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s refusal to heed calls to protect media personnel.”

“Reporters there have no safe refuge and no way of leaving. They are being killed one after another. Since 7 October, the Palestinian territory has been subjected to a veritable eradication of journalism,” it said.

The CPJ added that there was a “pattern of journalists in Gaza reporting receiving threats, and subsequently, their family members being killed.” The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that the father of Al-Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who is 90 years old, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his residence following numerous threats directed at his son.

The Committee previously reported that an Israeli airstrike resulted in the killing of eight members of photojournalist Yasser Qudih's family. This massacre occurred after the pro-Israeli group Honest Reporting claimed that Qudih and three other Gaza-based photographers had prior "knowledge of the Hamas attack on Israel."

The Israeli occupation Foreign Ministry retweeted a claim alleging that AP, CNN, NY Times, and Reuters had journalists embedded with al-Qassam fighters on October 7. A tweet by former Israeli ambassador to the UN and member of parliament, Danny Danon, called for the journalists' "elimination."

“Major media outlets, including Reuters, rejected the claims,” said the CPJ. “HonestReporting subsequently withdrew the accusations, but its report prompted the Israeli prime minister’s office to tweet that the photographers were accomplices in ‘crimes against humanity’, and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz to say they should be treated as terrorists.”

Earlier this month, a drone strike wounded Al Jazeera camera operator Samir Abudaqa, who was left to bleed for hours in a UN school. When individuals tried to rescue and transport him for treatment, they were shot as well. Abudaqa succumbed to his injuries several hours later.

Human Rights Watch, along with other organizations, concluded that an IOF attack resulting in the death of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and the injury of six others in southern Lebanon was likely a deliberate assault by the IOF on civilians.

Jodie Ginsberg, the president of CPJ, urged "Israel" to provide clearer information about the directives given to soldiers when dealing with media personnel.

“It’s hard for us to really understand Israel’s attitude. It says that it doesn’t target journalists yet we have this deadly pattern. Because they will not release their rules of engagement, it’s hard for us to know what the terms are in which they’re viewing journalists who are obviously civilians and should never be targeted in war,” she said.

A deadly pattern of Israeli killing of journalists

In May, CPJ published a report outlining a "deadly pattern" of Israeli forces targeting journalists even before the recent aggression on Gaza. The organization investigated the killing of 20 journalists at the hands of the IOF over the past two decades and identified a consistent Israeli response aimed at avoiding accountability.

“Israel has never put a soldier on trial for an intentional or unintentional killing of a journalist,” the CPJ said.

"Last year, we had the killing of Shareen Abu Akleh, the Al Jazeera journalist who was a US citizen, and again we’ve really seen no accountability. She was killed in what seems to have been a targeted attack because she was shot in the neck between her helmet and her press jacket," the Committee recalled.

"We’ve really not seen aggressive action from the US in pushing for an independent investigation or holding Israel to account. The US can do much more in terms of holding Israel to account and particularly in investigating whether or not any of these killings involved US weaponry."

'Israel' deliberately kills Al Mayadeen's crew in South Lebanon

Al Mayadeen's correspondent, Farah Omar, cameraman Rabih Me'mari, and freelancer Hussien Akil were murdered, on November 21, in an Israeli airstrike on their location in Tayr Harfa, South Lebanon. An Israeli warplane fired two rockets at their location.

Farah and Rabih had just ended a live broadcast at 10 a.m., giving updates on the latest Israeli bombardment in South Lebanon. The three were targeted soon after they wrapped up their coverage and went off air.

The intentional killing of our beloved colleagues Farah and Rabih came after the Israeli war cabinet approved on November 13 regulations that would allow the occupation government to ban and shut down Al Mayadeen Media Network in Palestine.

According to the decision, Al Mayadeen is said to be harming Israeli "national security."