[News] IOF intentionally killed journalists and their families in Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-intentionally-killed-journalists-and-their-families-in-g>
IOF intentionally killed journalists and their families in Gaza: CPJ
Al Mayadeen English
December 22, 2023
------------------------------

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.
[image: 3bf76a43-22c1-41af-ad2e-63ab3528cc8d.jpg]

   - 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
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/more-journalists-killed-since-oct--7-than-any-conflict-since>
in any recent war.

The CPJ reported that at least 68 journalists and other media workers
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/fellow-journalist-abdul-karim-odeh-killed-in-israeli-airstri>
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
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/86-palestinian-journalists-killed-since-october-7>
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
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-occupation-assassinates-journalist-amal-zohd--family>
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
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-strike-on-journalists-sparks-calls-for--war-crime--p>
and the injury of six others in southern Lebanon was likely a deliberate
assault by the IOF on civilians.

*Read next: Investigation says journalists killed by intentional Israeli
shelling
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/investigation-says-journalists-killed-by-intentional-israeli>*

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
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/palestine-remembers-shireen-abu-akleh-amid-calls-for-justice>,
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
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--deliberately-kills-al-mayadeen-s-crew-in-south-leba>,
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
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-cabinet-approves-regulations-to-close-foreign-broadc>
.

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

*Read next: Ben Jeddou: 'You will not be able to silence the voice of Al
Mayadeen'
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ben-jeddou---you-will-not-be-able-to-silence-the-voice-of-al>*
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