The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) vehemently condemns the escalating and deliberate targeting and killing of journalists by Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) during their ongoing genocidal campaign against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. The latest victim is photojournalist Ibrahim Mohareb, who was killed when an Israeli tank targeted a group of journalists near Hamad City, north of Khan Yunis. This attack not only claimed Mohareb’s life but also left another female journalist injured. 

According to PCHR’s field documentation, at approximately 18:30 on Sunday, 18 August 2024, IOF deliberately opened fire on a group of journalists wearing the blue PRESS-marked vest while covering the advance of Israeli vehicles into the proximity of Hamad City, northwest of Khan Yunis, injuring journalist Salma al-Qadumi, who works for the Agence France-Presse (AFP), with a live bullet that penetrated her back and exited through her chest. She managed to escape with three of her colleagues under heavy fire. However, the freelance photojournalist Ibrahim Marwan Salem Mohareb (26), could not escape due to the intensity of the gunfire and remained trapped.

In the morning of Monday, 19 August 2024, Mohareb’s body was recovered, turning out that he had been shot in the lower back and thigh and bled to death. A footage captured IOF heavily shooting at the journalists.

As of August, the number of journalists killed has risen to four, including two journalists who were killed along with their families. On 06 August 2024, journalist Muhammad ‘Issa Abu Sa’ada (26) who works as a photographer for Sada Al-Sharqiya network, was killed after IOF bombed his tent in Abasan Al-Jadida, east of Khan Yunis. On 09 August 2024, journalists Tameem Mu’ammar, who worked for Palestine TV Channel, and ‘Abdullah Al-Sousi, who worked for Al-Aqsa TV, were killed in separate incidents when their homes in Khan Yunis were bombed, killing them both along with their families.

Since the beginning of the Israeli genocidal campaign on 07 October 2024, the number of journalists killed by IOF has risen to 169, according to Gaze Public Information Office. This war has taken a record toll since the recording of journalist fatalities started in 1992. Among those killed were 13 female journalists. Meanwhile, the majority of journalists (165) were killed in airstrikes conducted by Israeli warplanes and drones while the remaining four were shot dead by Israeli snipers. Around 72 journalists were killed alongside their families in their homes by Israeli strikes on their houses. Additionally, 53 journalists were killed during indiscriminate bombings throughout the ongoing genocidal campaign; 24 were killed in direct targeted attacks, and 22 were killed while on duty -though it remains unclear whether they were deliberately targeted. In addition, 185 journalists have been injured during the war in various circumstances. Not to mention the targeting of social media activists by IOF which continue to incite violence against them and threaten to kill them if they do not remain silent.

PCHR believes that Israel continues to pursue a systematic policy to eradicate journalism in the Gaza Strip, marked by the direct targeting and blatant disregard for press insignia. Despite journalists wearing their distinctive uniforms and being in an area well known to IOF, they were deliberately targeted and killed.

PCHR asserts that the targeting of journalists intends to isolate the victims and prevent the documentation of Israel’s genocidal acts against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. PCHR calls on the international community to openly condemn the targeting of journalists, to exert pressure on Israel, the occupying power, to immediately stop these attacks, and to urgently provide international protection for civilians, including journalists, in the Gaza Strip.

PCHR reiterates that journalists enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law, akin to civilians. According to Article 79 of Protocol Additional I to the Geneva Conventions, which codifies a rule of customary international law, “journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in zones of armed conflict are civilians within the meaning of Article 50 (1). As such, they enjoy the full scope of protection granted to civilians under international human rights law, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Israel has ratified but refuses to apply to the occupied territory, just as it denies the applicability of international humanitarian law.

PCHR emphasizes that the willful killing of journalists constitutes a war crime within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to Article 8 of the ICC Rome Statute. Such act also constitutes arbitrary deprivation of life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the perpetrators must be held accountable. The targeting of journalists is also a violation on the right to freedom of the press and freedom of expression as guaranteed under international human rights law, particularly Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In light of these violations, PCHR urges the international community to pressure the occupying power to immediately stop targeting journalists and to take immediate action to provide international protection for civilians, including journalists, in the Gaza Strip. PCHR also calls upon international journalism organizations, including the International Federation of Journalists, to take action to hold Israel accountable for the killing and targeting of journalists in Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip.

PCHR calls on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to expedite tangible steps towards concluding investigations into the crimes committed in the situation in Palestine, including the killing of journalists, who are paying the highest price- their lives- to reveal the truth. We call on the Prosecutor to take further steps especially that justice has been long-awaited by victims in Palestine. We urge the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression to intensify efforts to protect the right to freedom of expression and to investigate Israel’s crimes against journalists and media outlets in the occupied Palestinian territory.