CPJ says the Israeli navy ‘continues to behave with complete impunity in the case of the killing of journalists’.
The Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ) has denounced Israel’s killing of 4 Palestinian journalists in Gaza over the previous week because the Israeli navy intensifies its bombardment of the besieged territory.
The USA-based watchdog mentioned in a press release on Monday that the worldwide neighborhood has failed to carry Israel accountable for its actions amid the rising demise toll of journalists and civilians in Gaza.
“No less than 95 journalists and media staff have been killed worldwide in 2024,” CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg mentioned.
“Israel is chargeable for two-thirds of these deaths and but continues to behave with complete impunity in the case of the killing of journalists and its assaults on the media.”
The remarks got here a day after Israeli forces killed Ahmed al-Louh, a 39-year-old Palestinian journalist who labored for Al Jazeera as a cameraman, within the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Over the earlier days, Israel additionally killed journalists Mohammed Balousha, Mohammed Jabr al-Qrinawi and Eman Shanti.
Hours earlier than an Israeli air strike killed Shanti alongside along with her husband and youngsters in Gaza Metropolis on Wednesday, the Palestinian journalist wrote on social media: “Is it attainable we’re nonetheless alive till now?”
In keeping with native well being authorities, Israel has killed greater than 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza. It has additionally levelled massive elements of the enclave and imposed a suffocating blockade, resulting in lethal starvation throughout the territory.
United Nations consultants and rights teams have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
With no overseas reporters allowed to work in Gaza, Palestinian journalists have been the one witnesses describing the atrocities to the surface world. And that, rights advocates argue, has put them within the crosshairs of an Israeli navy working with out regard to authorized and moral norms.
In keeping with the Gaza Authorities Media Workplace, Israeli forces have killed 196 Palestinian media staff in Gaza because the begin of the conflict final 12 months. CPJ, which has not included some media staff in its tally, places the demise toll at 133.
On Sunday, Al Jazeera condemned the killing of al-Louh, accusing Israel of finishing up a “systematic killing of journalists in chilly blood”.
Al-Louh was the most recent of a number of Al Jazeera-affiliated journalists killed by Israeli forces because the begin of the conflict. He was killed on the primary anniversary of the killing of one other Al Jazeera cameraman, Samer Abudaqa, in an Israeli assault.
Earlier this 12 months, Israel additionally killed the community’s correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and his companion cameraman Rami al-Rifi in a focused assault.
The Israeli navy has not denied focusing on al-Louh and different Al Jazeera journalists. As a substitute, it has tried to make use of a well-known excuse to justify their killing – accusing them, with out proof, of being members of Palestinian armed teams, which the community has vehemently denied.
On Sunday, the Israeli navy claimed that al-Louh was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, offering no proof to again the allegations.
Israel had additionally mentioned that al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas and later launched an apparently fabricated doc as supposed proof, which claimed that al-Ghould acquired a Hamas navy rank in 2007 – when he would have been 10 years outdated.
Because the outbreak of the conflict on Gaza, Israel has alleged – principally with out proof – that its assaults on Palestinians are a part of its marketing campaign in opposition to Hamas.
The Israeli navy has additionally bombed colleges, hospitals and displaced individuals’s camps, claiming that it was focusing on Hamas fighters.
