Yemeni Union stands in solidarity with Palestinian colleagues
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'Israel' has murdered 49 journalists in the Gaza Strip, consistently breaking international humanitarian law.
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The personal protective vest of Mohammad Abu Hattab, a Palestine TV correspondent killed alongside 11 members of his family in an Israeli airstrike, lays on his body, in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine. (AFP)
The Yemeni Journalists Union (YJU) released a statement in solidarity with Al Mayadeen's correspondent in occupied Palestine, Hanaa Mahameed, who was ambushed and threatened by an Israeli journalist and his entourage on Monday.
Mahameed was ambushed by Israeli Channel 12's correspondent and a group of extremist settlers in a thuggish manner, amid a renewed campaign of incitement and personal threats targeted at her.
#AlMayadeen's correspondent in occupied #AlQuds, Hanaa Mahameed, was lured into a post office branch and ambushed by a group of Israeli far-right journalists and a channel 12 correspondent, where she was surrounded and accused of publishing fake news about the IOF's practices.… pic.twitter.com/ZEy4nMrzT9
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 6, 2023
The YJU considered the event as being part of a broader Israeli campaign to silence voices and conceal the truth about the atrocities that Israeli occupation forces are committing across Palestine. The Union characterizes this as "a policy to systematically terrorize" Palestinian voices.
"Israel" has employed this strategy across Palestine, as it even targeted and killed dozens of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, the statement underlined.
The statement held the Israeli occupation responsible for the continued harassment that Mahameed and others are facing.
Journalists protected under IHL
The Yemeni Journalists Union called on all human and journalist rights concerned international organizations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), to form a special committee, charged with monitoring the Israeli occupation's crimes against journalists in Palestine, considering that the group is protected under human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL).
Under IHL's Article 79, journalists "engaged in dangerous professional missions in zones of armed conflict are civilians," meaning that they "enjoy the full scope of protection granted to civilians under" IHL.
Targeting journalists is therefore a war crime, as the Yemeni Journalists Union pointed out, calling for the trying of Israeli criminals who targeted civilians in international courts.
It also condemned official recommendations made by Israeli security and military agencies to cancel the broadcasting of several foreign media outlets, including Al Mayadeen.
Read more: IOF detain German journalists in West Bank
Israeli attempts to silence the truth futile
The occupation has systematically targeted, killed, and silenced 49 journalists in the Gaza Strip, which comes after the tragic loss of Muhammad Abu Hasira and Yahya Abu Munie.
Al-Aqsa TV bid farewell to martyr Abu Munie on Tuesday morning after an Israeli airstrike killed him, according to the governmental media office in Gaza.
The Israeli occupation has proven over and over again that the press is also a target.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 7, 2023
The #Palestinian journalist, Yahya Abu Munie, embraced martyrdom in a violent Israeli airstrike. The occupation has so far killed dozens of journalists and even went after their families in… pic.twitter.com/L476gceOba
Martyr Abu Hasira who worked for the official Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) was killed alongside several members of his family after Israeli warplanes targeted their home in western Gaza.
This is the second journalist that the Israeli occupation has murdered today.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 7, 2023
"Israel" has killed dozens of journalists in #Gaza, even going after their family members as well.#Palestine #GazaUnderAttack #GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/oA515lxr1V
So far, 33 journalists have been injured by "Israel's" aggression on the Gaza Strip.
The governmental media office has emphasized that "the assassinations committed by the occupation against Palestinian civilians in general, and journalists and media professionals in particular, reflect its systematic brutality and terrorism against Palestinian journalists, involving deliberate acts of killing, detention, and systematic destruction of Palestinian media institutions and the homes of journalists."
War crimes extend to Lebanon
The occupation targeted journalists in South Lebanon earlier on October 13, when a missile was shot at a group of local and international journalists and reporters.
Reuter's photographer, Issam Abdallah, was killed by an Israeli strike on the town of Alma al-Shaab, in southern Lebanon. Two other Reuters journalists, Thaer al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh were injured, alongside others.
It is worth noting that the journalists were wearing "PRESS" designated vests and helmets which made them easily identifiable, however, the Israeli occupation has taken every opportunity possible to break international law, as its actions continue to go unquestioned.
Read more: Israeli deliberate attack on civilian car in Lebanon kills 3 children
