Why Israel’s War in Gaza Has Been So Deadly for Journalists

At least five journalists were killed in Israeli strikes at Nasser Hospital in the Southern Gaza Strip on Monday. The attack included successive strikes in a quick caliphate, which is often referred to as a double-clicked blow-which is targeted by the first respondents, including medical workers and journalists, shortly after the initial strike. Double strikes are widely considered a war crime and are seen as deliberate.

Among the journalists who were killed in the hospital attack, Mariam Abu Daga, Muhammad Salama, Ahmed Abu Aziz, Hafam Al -Masry, and Muwaz Abu Taha. They have worked or independent ports including the Associated Press, Reuters, and the island of the island, among others.

At least five journalists were killed in Israeli strikes at Nasser Hospital in the Southern Gaza Strip on Monday. The attack included successive strikes in a quick caliphate, which is often referred to as a double-clicked blow-which is targeted by the first respondents, including medical workers and journalists, shortly after the initial strike. Double strikes are widely considered a war crime and are seen as deliberate.

Among the journalists who were killed in the hospital attack, Mariam Abu Daga, Muhammad Salama, Ahmed Abu Aziz, Hafam Al -Masry, and Muwaz Abu Taha. They have worked or independent ports including the Associated Press, Reuters, and the island of the island, among others.

Israel provided inconsistent interpretations of a strike on Monday, which was said to have killed at least 22 people, including describing it as a “tragic accident” and saying that it targeted a camera used by Hamas to investigate the Israeli forces. Israel has not provided any evidence to support this claim, but it is known that the media was regularly known and operated the cameras on the site that was struck.

This is a familiar story when it comes to the war in Gaza, which was the bloody conflict for journalists in modern history.

To get a better picture of why this war is very fatal for journalists and what can be done to go forward, Foreign policy He spoke with Judy Ginsburg, CEO of the CPJ (CPJ), who closely monitored the situation for journalists in Gaza and followed the death toll. At least 197 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, an attack led by Hamas on Israel, according to CPJ, although the other number puts the murdered number higher.

Ginsburg said that there are two reasons for the existence of the war in Gaza very fatal for reporters: “The size of the war itself, along with the direct targeting of journalists as journalists.”

“Human rights groups consider this genocide,” Ginsburg said of the Israeli campaign in Gaza. “We have now killed more than 63,000 Ghazan, and journalists are civilians.” She added that CPJ is “an investigation into at least 26 cases, as we believe that Israel has intentionally targeted journalists as journalists, and that he is in itself an unprecedented personality.”

I wrote Reuters and wrote AP An urgent message to Israeli officials about the deadly attack on Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli Defense Army [Israel Defense Forces] It faces an international law to protect journalists and civilians and take all possible precautions to prevent harm. The structure of a hospital, followed by a second blow, while journalists and rescuers responded, raises urgent questions about whether these obligations were supported, “as stated in the letter.

The letter confirmed that the journalists who were killed were present in the hospital in their “professional energy, and they do the critical work that is witnessing,” adding that “their work is particularly vital in light of the almost a ban on Israel on foreign journalists entering Gaza.”

Israel said it was investigating the attack, which achieved the last hospital to remain partial in southern Gaza. AP and their general demanded in their message “urgent and transparent accountability” about the killings, expressing the hope that Israel will be “quickly and comprehensive and provides clear answers.”

However, there are few reasons for the belief that anyone will be held accountable for the history of Israel’s treatment of journalistic killings – as many international community continue to express their concern about Israel committing acts that are illegal under international law without punishment in Gaza and the occupied West Bank in general.

In this way, AP and Reuters said in their message that they “found that the willingness of the Israeli Defense Army and its ability to investigate itself in previous incidents rarely leads to clarity and action, which raises serious questions, including whether Israel intentionally targeted living fodder in order to suppress information.”

Likewise, Gensburg said it was “not confident” that those responsible for the death of journalists in Gaza will get a responsibility, pointing to the CPJ 2023 report that looked at every case of the killing of journalists by the Israeli army in more than 20 years before. She said: “Not in one case, no one has held accountability. The investigations are not transparent, they are not independent, and they did not lead to accountability.”

Just a few weeks have passed since a separate high -level example of the Israeli strike, who kills journalists in Gaza. On August 10, Israel killed many journalists-including Nas al-Sharif, the 28-year-old Politzer correspondent-with a strike in a press tent in Gaza City. Israel claimed that Sharif was the head of a terrorist cell Hamas, although it provided a few evidence to support this.

A few weeks before his killing, CPJ called for the international community to protect Sharif because he expressed his concerns that Israel was falsely smudging him as a terrorist as an introduction to his assassination.

Sharif told CPJ in late July: “All this happens because my coverage of the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip harm them and harm their image in the world. They accuse me of being a terrorist because the occupation wants a moral assassination.”

What happened to Sherif It is part of a wider direction. When the Israeli forces kill journalists in Gaza, the official response usually fluctuates between the settlement of unlimited allegations of terrorism and its formation as an unfortunate side effect. However, rights and screens groups warn that Israel intends to intend for journalists in Gaza – a charge that denies the Israeli government – and did this without repercussions in a way that puts a dangerous precedent for the whole world.

“If there are no consequences or any commitment to international humanitarian law and the rules do not apply, then why should you advance anywhere else? The repercussions of this, not only in the region but globally, will play for future generations,” Ginsburg said.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to impose an almost complete ban on foreign journalists who are entering Gaza to report the land. This means that the responsibility for reporting this war is directly lies with an overwhelming majority of Palestinian journalists in the region, who live in the same hell conditions such as their colleagues Gazan – including the ongoing bombings, the death of their loved ones, starvation, and persistent displacement.

“It is almost impossible to put the words of living in the war while documenting it,” Ginsburg said. “The losses that take on individuals are enormous. It is noticeable for me that journalists in Gaza were able to continue to report the way they have because they not only report the death of their loved ones, but they are repeated in a growing frequency to report the death of colleagues.”

In addition to all the risks faced by journalists in Gaza, Israel routinely takes steps to photograph their reports as unreliable – including questioning their affiliations. Critics say this is one of the many tactics that Israel uses to control the narration surrounding the war.

Ginsburg said that Israel’s approach to the war has included “a deliberate strategy to control narration and control information”, including “by targeting journalists and media facilities and banning media, and preventing journalists from reaching Gaza from outside Gaza, and controlling what the Israeli media can say, and their punishment who do not do the calligraphy. Haritz“The Israeli government is punished HaritzThe country’s daily newspaper, late last year, due to the critical coverage of the port of the war in Gaza.

Ginsburg said that the Israeli government’s allegations that Palestinian journalists cannot be trusted “somewhat comfortable”, especially as foreign correspondents continue to enter Gaza – which makes it very difficult to verify information. She added: “We never make the same allegations about American journalists covering American policy or British journalists covering British policy, but in some way we cannot trust journalists in Ghazan to report what is happening to them in their homes.”

Israel justified the prohibition near the emptiness of foreign correspondents who enter Gaza by referring to safety concerns. But journalists are routinely progressing from conflict areas all over the world. Although censorship and restrictions are not uncommon, the extent of Israel’s ban on journalists from entering Gaza is very unusual.

Things are also separated, Guinsberg said that she does not see the types of objective changes in positions and procedures from the international community, especially Western countries, needed to change the approach of Israel. This includes taking bolder measures regarding trade and providing weapons. She said: “It is very easy to say that you support the rights of the Palestinians, but you do not do much to support these rights if you are continuing to provide the weapons that are used to eliminate them.”

Ginsberg also has a clear message to the Western media covering the war in Gaza if they want to support their Palestinian colleagues on the ground: “Do your dreaded work.”

“I report what is happening,” Ginsburg said. “What we see often is to report what people say about what is happening.” “Those who are in power sites will always try to push their side from the story, whether it is Hamas or whether Israel is.”

She said: “Ask questions. Not simply and then prostitution.”