It would be inconceivable to let this year’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists pass by without calling out and demanding accountability for Israeli actions perpetrated over the last 12 months that have reportedly resulted in more than 170 media workers killed — mostly in Gaza — hundreds critically injured, and record numbers detained in the Occupied West Bank.
This is an unparalleled assault on journalists and press freedom, and given Israel’s continued impunity for these crimes, as well as for earlier cases including the killings of Palestinian journalists Shireen Abu Akleh and Ghofran Warasneh in 2022 and Yaser Murtaja in 2018, there is no reason to believe it will abate any time soon.
As a network, IFEX has been bearing witness to the crimes and their devastating impact. Below, we chronicle a year of advocacy and solidarity actions by IFEX members.
We will not cease our efforts to ensure that Israel is held accountable and journalists in the region are able to safely do their essential work.
November – December 2023
What happened: In the early weeks of the war on Gaza, IFEX members raised alarms about Israel’s systematic attacks on civilians and journalists, urgently calling for international intervention.
By early November: 26 Palestinian journalists had been killed—an unprecedented figure foreshadowing a deadly period. The targeting of journalists in southern Lebanon on 13 October killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six others, in a demonstration of Israel’s brazen assault on the press. IFEX members warned that this dangerous trend would escalate if left unchecked.
1 NOVEMBER
Impunity fuels targeting of journalists in Palestine
An initial RSF video investigation into the killing of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah found the journalists’ vehicle was “explicitly targeted” by Israel while he and his colleagues were covering clashes at the border between Israel and Lebanon. RSF filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed against eight Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli bombardments of civilian areas in Gaza, and an Israeli journalist killed during the 7 October attack by Hamas.
3 NOVEMBER
Demand for justice grows on 10th International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists
The international community must seriously work on implementing treaties, resolutions, and commitments that protect journalists, while also holding their attackers and killers accountable. Otherwise, we may witness the legitimization of journalist killings and the suppression of what the UN Secretary-General referred to as collective punishment for the Palestinian people
3 NOVEMBER
MADA calls for the formation of an international tribunal to prosecute the killers of all journalists
The lack of deterrence against the perpetrators of these crimes gives them the space to commit more crimes and commit violations without fear of punishment. MADA believes that the crimes and violations committed against journalists and media professionals would not have continued if their perpetrators had been prosecuted and punished
3 NOVEMBER
Ending impunity for crimes against journalists in MENA
Palestinian and international press freedom groups reported that at least 26 Palestinian journalists were confirmed killed as a result of the latest war in less than one month. Many others are injured or missing, and have family members who have been killed. By the time we publish this report, more journalists and their family members will have been killed if the bombing does not cease. There will likely never be any accountability for their killings.
14 NOVEMBER
UN Special Procedures must speak out on the targeting of journalists and media outlets in Palestine
The MADA Center […] calls on Israel to ensure legal remedies as an occupying power for those victims of Israeli violations of freedom of opinion and expression and access to information, ensure reparations for the loss of media outlets, service provider companies, and journalists, and put an end to the culture of impunity enjoyed by Israel.
22 NOVEMBER
Israel is eradicating journalism in Gaza, with ten reporters killed in three days, 48 since start of war
Since 7 October, the Palestinian territory has been subjected to a veritable eradication of journalism. We urge the international community to intervene to protect the journalists there, to open the Rafah border crossing, and to enable international reporters to go in.
15 DECEMBER
An ‘eradication’ of journalism in Palestine
Fueling the impunity have been smear campaigns aimed at discrediting Palestinian journalists and legitimizing their killing. Israeli media and leading public figures helped bolster a narrative that likened journalists covering the war within Gaza to terrorists.
January – March 2024
What happened: As 2024 began, the violence worsened. Palestinian journalists faced airstrikes, sniper fire, kidnappings, and detentions. Media offices, residential buildings housing journalists, and news vehicles were bombed, often with no prior warning.
In January, efforts to hold Israel accountable unfolded on the world stage as South Africa launched a genocide case against Israel at the International Criminal Court. By March: over 120 Palestinian journalists had been killed.
23 January
Looking ahead: The fight against Israel’s impunity gains legal momentum
South Africa’s genocide case unlocks a legal process at the world’s highest court to credibly examine Israel’s conduct in Gaza in the hopes of curtailing further suffering.
6 March
“Israel has killed over 10% of our colleagues”: Journalists in Palestine speak out about being systematically targeted in the war
Organisations that used to teach us about upholding human rights can’t continue to do this if they accept what’s being done to journalists in Palestine. We need real actions against the Israeli occupation [from international institutions] to face this escalation of impunity, which will only get worse for everyone if it’s not stopped.
25 March
MFC member states urged to take meaningful action for journalist safety in Gaza
The targeted or indiscriminate killing of journalists is a war crime. Despite recent UN figures that at least 122 journalists have been killed, the collective official silence of the MFC member states as a group regarding these killings, with increasing evidence of journalists being specifically targeted, along with the lack of actions to ensure that international journalists can access and report from Gaza, seriously diminishes our collective ability to credibly stand up for media freedom globally.
April – June 2024
What happened: With a ‘plausible genocide’ becoming increasingly apparent and showing no sign of abating, the number of journalists killed continued to rise.
By June, at least 146 journalists and media workers had been killed.
IFEX and its members called out the international community for its complicity in Israel’s crimes, demanding accountability and an end to impunity. Rights groups also urged the ICJ to implement clear measures to collect and preserve evidence of atrocities, highlighting its importance in accountability efforts.
10 May
Battling Israel’s media silencing and persistent impunity
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide a timeline for the conclusion of the 18-month investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing. Her family and Al Jazeera also filed complaints with the ICC, seeking justice. Shot by an Israeli sniper in 2022, the American-Palestinian journalist has become emblematic of Israel’s impunity, especially when it comes to crimes against journalists.
22 May
International Court of Justice: Protect evidence in the Gaza war
Israel’s continuing assault on journalists, freedom of expression and people’s right to access information violates international human rights and humanitarian law. It defies the ICJ’s January order for evidence to be preserved as the conflict continues and will hinder accountability efforts. It is therefore vital that the ICJ is crystal clear this time around that Israel’s actions must stop.
27 May
RSF files third complaint with ICC about Israeli war crimes against journalists in Gaza
Impunity endangers journalists not only in Palestine but also throughout the world. Those who kill journalists are attacking the public’s right to information, which is even more essential in times of conflict. They must be held accountable, and RSF will continue to work to this end, in solidarity with Gaza’s reporters.
6 June
Standing against impunity: IFEX calls for justice in Palestine
As pressure mounts from international legal bodies to hold Israel accountable and to prevent further violations, the IFEX network stands in solidarity with our Palestinian members and renews our demands for an end to Israel’s impunity and accountability for crimes against journalists, civil society, and other violations of international law, in order to create a future both in Palestine and globally where the right to freedom of expression and access to information, as well as the institutions that uphold them, are valued and protected.
July – October 2024
What happened: In August, IFEX and human rights groups called on the EU to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement and impose targeted sanctions due to the unprecedented killing of journalists.
By October, at least 170 Palestinian journalists had been killed. MADA also documented over 1,029 violations against Palestinian media in the past year.
2 August
MADA calls on the international community to acknowledge its failure to protect journalists in the Gaza Strip
MADA believes that the impunity of the perpetrators of all these crimes and hundreds of other Israeli crimes and violations against journalists and media outlets in Palestine is what encouraged the Israeli occupation to persist and escalate in committing more of them, as has been happening in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for months. Accordingly, MADA calls on the international community to acknowledge its inability and failure to provide protection to Palestinian civilians and journalists, as long as it is unable to pressure and influence the policies of the Israeli government and provide them with protection.
26 August
EU must take action against Israel’s unprecedented attacks on journalists and media freedom
IFEX joins calls on the EU to act decisively to protect press freedom and ensure accountability amid record journalist deaths in Gaza and severe media crackdowns in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
25 September
RSF files its fourth complaint in a year with the ICC for Israel’s war crimes against journalists
As long as these homicides remain unpunished, the perpetrators will have no reason to stop. The protection of Gaza’s journalists begins with the fight against impunity. We call on the ICC prosecutor to examine and act on these complaints as a matter of priority and urgency. Without Gaza’s journalists, we will lose access to information on the situation in Gaza. Protect them now!
4 October
Unchecked Israeli impunity deepens in Lebanon and Palestine, dissent stifled in Egypt and Iran
Continuing to push for accountability, Maharat Foundation joined human rights organisations in urging the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate the targeted Israeli attack that killed journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded six others. The letter called the investigation crucial in securing justice for victims and ending impunity for Israel’s crimes against journalists.
1 November
Lebanese journalists confront risks and challenges amid Israel’s war
“In the absence of adequate protection measures, Lebanese journalists remain at risk while performing their professional duties. The ongoing targeting of journalists demonstrates the urgent need for international action to provide them with the necessary conditions to work safely. The journalist profession is not just a right; its protection is an obligation for all states, which must ensure the journalists covering wars are protected from attacks so they can continue to convey the truth.”
Explore more reports from IFEX and its members documenting Israel’s escalating war on the press over the past year, and the ongoing fight against impunity. Click here.