Middle-East

Israeli army has killed more journalists than any other military force in a single year

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On December 26, five journalists from Al-Quds Today TV were killed when an Israeli airstrike struck their broadcasting van while they were covering events in Gaza.

Since October 2023, a staggering 201 journalists—predominantly Palestinians—have been systematically targeted and killed by the Israeli army in Gaza.

This is according to the US-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists which recently reported that "the Israel-Gaza war has become the deadliest conflict for journalists on record, marking the highest number of journalist fatalities in one location within a single year".

On December 26, five journalists from Al-Quds Today TV were killed when an Israeli airstrike struck their broadcasting van while they were covering events near Al-Awda Hospital in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned this massacre, highlighting that the attack has raised the death toll of Palestinian journalists and media workers killed by Israel to over 190 since the onset of its aggressive actions in Gaza.

The syndicate described the murder of these journalists as an attempt to obscure the truth and suppress freedom of expression, emphasising the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists. They called on the international community and human rights organizations to urgently protect Palestinian journalists and take decisive action to halt these ongoing crimes.

Palestinians mourn local journalists Hassouna Sleem and Sary Mansour, who were killed in an Israeli strike on a house, at a hospital in the central Gaza Strip November 19, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)

The CJP also denounced the attack. Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s programme director in New York, noted that the assassination of the Al-Quds Today journalists brings the total to nine Gazan journalists killed in less than two weeks. He urged the international community to act swiftly to protect Palestinian journalists in Gaza and to end Israel’s impunity for these killings.

In its recent report, CPJ expressed concern over an apparent pattern of targeting journalists and their families by the Israeli military. In at least one instance, a journalist was killed while clearly wearing press insignia in an area where no fighting was occurring. Several journalists also reported receiving threats from Israeli officials and IDF officers prior to their family members being killed.

“The Israel-Gaza war represents the most perilous environment for journalists we have ever witnessed, and these statistics make that painfully clear,” stated Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator. “The Israeli army has killed more journalists in just 10 weeks than any other military or entity has in an entire year. Each journalist lost makes it increasingly difficult to document and understand the realities of this war.”

While systematically targeting Palestinian journalists and media workers to conceal its war crimes in Gaza, Israel has also restricted foreign media outlets from entering the besieged territory.

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