The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) vehemently condemns the Israeli Occupying Forces’ (IOF) deliberate targeting and killing of journalists during the Israeli genocidal campaign against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip ongoing for a year now in perpetuation of their attempts to obliterate the truth. The latest of these intentional crimes was the killing of 19-year-old journalist Hasan ‘Abdel Rahim Hamad during his coverage of the Israeli bombardment on Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza.
At around 06:50 on Sunday, 06 October 2024, IOF targeted journalist Hamad’s house killing him immediately and shredding his body in pieces. Hamad, who worked in Media Town Company and cooperated with different media institutions, was covering and filming from his house the Israeli bombardment and ground attack on Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza. Hamad spent the previous night voice-recording and publishing videos streaming the latest developments in Jabalia refugee camp, and the latest video he posted was just half an hour before being targeted. On 13 May 2024, Hamad received a message on WhatsApp from an Israeli number, threatening to kill him and his family if he continued publishing against Israel.
With Hamad’s killing, the number of journalists killed by IOF since October 07th has risen to 174, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office, taking a record toll since the recording of journalist fatalities started in 1992. Among those killed were 13 female journalists. Meanwhile, the majority of journalists (170) were killed in Israeli warplane and drone airstrikes, and the remaining four were shot dead by Israeli snipers. Around 72 journalists were killed with their families in attacks 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.
By killing journalists, Israel attempts to monopolize the narrative so the world would not see the crimes it commits against the Palestinian people in a time international journalists are denied access to Gaza to cover this genocidal war. All this is part of an all-out genocidal war; during which, international crimes have been committed by Israel to perpetuate a new Nakba against 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for a year now.
PCHR believes that Israel continues to pursue a systematic policy to eradicate journalism in the Gaza Strip, marked by the directed attacks 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.