Reporters Without Borders files 2nd complaint against 'Israel' to ICC
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RSF has confirmed the deaths of 66 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since the start of the Israeli aggression in early October.
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Relatives mourn Adel Zorob, a Palestinian freelance journalist who was killed with his family in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip outside a morgue in Rafah, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023 (AP)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has submitted its second complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing "Israel" of war crimes against Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip.
The Paris-based press freedom organization filed the lawsuit on Friday, urging the Hague court to investigate the deaths of seven Palestinian journalists between October 22 and December 15.
Based on the information collected, RSF asserted the possibility that "these journalists may have been deliberately targeted as journalists."
"RSF has reasonable grounds to believe that the journalists named in this complaint were the victims of attacks amounting to war crimes," the group said in a statement.
Read more: UNESCO Director-General condemns killing of Al Mayadeen's journalists
This marks the second lawsuit filed by RSF with the ICC since the start of "Israel's" war on Gaza on October 7.
The first complaint was related to the deaths of seven other journalists in Gaza.
RSF has confirmed the deaths of 66 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since the start of the Israeli aggression in early October.
The organization has urged ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to investigate not only the recent deaths but all 66 cases of Palestinian journalists killed. Targeting journalists is considered a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that 68 media workers, including 61 Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese, have been killed in the 10 weeks of fighting.
"More journalists have been killed in the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year."
Read more: Al-Manar, MTV, NNA crews survive Israeli strike in Lebanon
"Israel" faces accusations of committing war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 20,000 people, including over 8,000 children, have been martyred since the start of the regime's relentless bombardment.
Prosecutor Karim Khan confirmed receiving a referral from five countries, namely from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, and Djibouti, to investigate Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to examine these allegations, altogether with the ongoing scrutiny of actions during the war.
A deadly pattern of Israeli killing of journalists
In May, the Committee to Protect Journalists (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."
