Above photo: Mourners and colleagues surround the bodies of Al-Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Refee, killed in an Israeli strike during their coverage of Gaza’s Al-Shati refugee camp, on July 31, 2024. Hadi Daoud/APA Images.
There is a well-established pattern of Israeli forces targeting Palestinian journalists.
We must break this cycle of impunity by transparently investigating Israel’s crimes.
In the deadliest year for journalists in recorded history, nearly two-thirds of the total deaths were Palestinians killed by Israel.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports 85 journalists were killed by Israel in 2024, and 78 in 2023. The group previously reported Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as the “most dangerous situation for journalists” ever recorded.
The international community – from newsrooms to academic institutions to government bodies and beyond – must heed the call of Palestinians demanding justice and accountability for Israel’s human rights violations against journalists and for the protection of media workers in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
In July, the world will mark one year since the killings of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi.
Al-Ghoul and al-Rifi were targeted by an Israeli airstrike shortly after reporting in Gaza City while donning their media vests and identifiable gear as they traveled.
Prior to his murder, al-Ghoul was one of the many Palestinians unlawfully detained by Israel at the al-Shifa hospital complex where CPJ reported al-Ghoul was detained and abused with a number of other journalists in March 2024.
Al Jazeera stated the killing of al-Ghoul and al-Rifi are “part of a systematic targeting campaign against the network’s journalists and their families since October 2023.”
Gaza-based Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary has consistently stated that journalists have been systematically targeted and attacked by Israeli airstrikes with “zero protection” since October 2023. Attacks on journalists and media works are illegal under international law.
As the anniversary of al-Ghoul’s and al-Rifi’s killings approaches, international bodies must exert increased pressure to hold Israel accountable for the unjust murders of the 163 Palestinian journalists and media workers.
For 15 months, international journalists had been barred from entering the Gaza Strip during Israel’s retaliatory bombardment. Beyond sparking international backlash, the blockade has made it the responsibility of Palestinians to investigate, translate, and report their own experiences of violence and displacement.
As a result, the role of Palestinian journalists became pivotal to documenting Israel’s actions in the Strip.
Despite the blockade on foreign journalists, Palestinian journalists continued to report the ongoing war under airstrikes targeting media tents, during attacks on hospitals, and even when facing starvation and malnutrition.
Israel admitted to targeting the Palestinian journalists with unsubstantiated claims of al-Ghoul’s and al-Rifi’s involvement in Palestinian armed resistance. In December 2023, Israel made similar claims in the murder of Al Jazeera camera operator Hamza Al Dahdouh and freelance video journalist, Mustafa Thuraya.
CPJ made calls to end the series of “questionable and sometimes contradictory evidence” by Israel to justify the staggering number of Palestinian journalists targeted in its military campaign. Before October 2023, the group documented previous false claims by Israeli forces against journalists killed between 2004 and 2018.
The special report details the “complete impunity” in the murder of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while reporting in the West Bank.
There is an established pattern of Palestinian journalists being targeted by Israeli forces with impunity. Given the staggering scale of media workers targeted in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, international bodies must urgently seek to break the cycle of obscure investigations and unsubstantiated claims to seek justice for this special group.
The call from Palestinian journalists is clear: end the targeting of media workers as dictated by international law and seek justice for the 163 lives lost.
Beyond the numbers, Palestinians have a right to life, dignity and justice. The staggering rate at which media workers within Gaza have been targeted demands the international community heed the urgent calls from Palestinians to seek justice for Israel’s violations of international law.
As 2025 sees the rollout of a ceasefire agreement, now is the time to break the cycle of impunity by examining the evidence and transparently investigating Israel’s crimes while relieving Palestinian journalists of the sole responsibility to document the world’s “most dangerous situation for journalists.”