Image Source: International Media Support
Occupied Gaza Strip – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the killing of two Palestinian journalists, Hossam Shabat and Mohammed Mansour, by Israeli forces in Gaza on March 24. CPJ is calling for “an independent international investigation into whether they were deliberately targeted.”
Shabat, who worked with Al Jazeera Mubasher, was killed when Israeli airstrikes hit his car in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. Mansour, affiliated with Palestine Today TV, was killed in an airstrike on his home in Khan Yunis, in the south.
“CPJ is appalled that we are once again seeing Palestinians weeping over the bodies of dead journalists in Gaza,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s Program Director.
“This nightmare in Gaza has to end. The international community must act fast … Journalists are civilians, and it is illegal to attack them in a war zone.”
Back in October, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused Shabat and five other Palestinian journalists working with Al Jazeera of being members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. CPJ has rejected these accusations, urging Israel to stop making unsubstantiated claims to justify its targeting and mistreatment of journalists.
Shabat had denied the allegations, telling CPJ, “We are citizens, and we convey their voices. Our only crime is that we convey the image and the truth.”
Since the war began in October 2023, more than 200 journalists and media workers have been killed.
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Israeli Forces Accused of Targeting Journalists with Impunity
In an interview with Salaamedia, political commentator Dr Abdul Wahid expressed deep concern over what he described as a deliberate and escalating pattern of targeting journalists in Gaza.
He noted that the number of Palestinian journalists killed in recent months is staggering, especially when compared to the number of journalists killed during three years of war in Ukraine.
According to Dr Wahid, this pattern of impunity by Israel is part of a broader campaign of violence that followed the violation of a ceasefire by Israeli forces, which the international community is hardly criticising.
So much so that he said Israel does not even appear to be hiding its intentions when it comes to their military targets – journalists are labelled as terrorists, and that alone is used to justify their deaths.
He argued that these actions against journalists and civilians in Gaza demonstrate a blatant disregard for international humanitarian law and are designed to silence those bearing witness to horrifying events on the ground.
“First they cut off all aid into Gaza, then they bombed civilians in tents, then they returned to targeting hospitals, and now, once again, they are deliberately targeting journalists.”
Dr Wahid also pointed out that the families of journalists have been targeted, suggesting this is a deliberate attempt to intimidate and demoralise those reporting from Gaza.
“They’ve very deliberately killed their family members, even when the journalists themselves were spared,” he said.
Condemnation of International Inaction
Dr Wahid went on to criticise the repeated failure of the international community to act decisively. He argued that appealing to global institutions for justice in the Palestinian cause is futile.
He described international condemnation as hollow, pointing out that under international law, “it’s not just a crime to kill journalists. It’s a war crime to be complicit if you’re supporting people that are killing journalists and civilians.”
“But who’s the judge and jury in their international law? It’s the ones who are actually supporting the criminal. So it makes no sense for us to be appealing to these people.”
Critiquing the global system, Dr Wahid stated that institutions like the UN and the International Criminal Court are not fit to deliver justice. Instead, he argued, they serve the interests of powerful nations.
“There is no justice for the Palestinian people in the current global system. There never will be because this global system has decided it has endorsed the occupation of Palestine.”
