"As long as these homicides remain unpunished, the perpetrators will have no reason to stop."
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 24 September 2024.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has filed its fourth complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed by the Israeli army in Gaza. Protecting journalists begins with the fight against impunity.
“RSF is filing its fourth complaint with the ICC for Israel’s crimes against journalists in Gaza. Journalists are being slaughtered at an unprecedented pace, as over 130 have been killed by the Israeli army in the past year. We have been able to establish reasonable grounds that there has been intentional targeting in nine new crimes. 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!”
Antoine Bernard, RSF’s Director of Advocacy & Assistance
On 1 November 2023, RSF filed its first complaint. The second was filed on 22 December, and the third on 27 May 2024. Following the first two complaints, the office of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan assured RSF that crimes against journalists have been included in its investigation into the situation in Palestine. Since 2018, RSF’s work has been instrumental in spurring ICC investigations into crimes against journalists.
Given the scale of this tragedy, RSF decided to file a fourth complaint on 24 September 2024. RSF has documented the circumstances surrounding the attacks that targeted nine journalists between December 2023 and September 2024; eight journalists were killed and one was injured.
An unprecedented slaughter
Shams News correspondent Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Sharia, one of the nine victims, was killed by an Israeli air strike on 1 July 2024 while working near his home. The air strike also killed seven other civilians.
Al-Jazeera correspondents Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi were targeted and killed while on assignment on 31 July 2024. RSF published an investigative report examining Israel’s justification for the crime and the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
Eighteen days later, two shots from an Israeli tank killed freelance journalist Ibrahim Muhareb while he was reporting on the ground and wearing his press vest. The shooting continued with such violence that his body could not be recovered until the following night. Another journalist was also wounded by the shots but survived the attack. When questioned by RSF, the Israeli army merely responded that the incident had not occurred as RSF had described, and refused to explain further.
Other victims include two photojournalists, brothers Ayman and Ibrahim Mohamed al-Gherbawi, killed in a targeted drone strike on 27 April 2024, according to RSF’s information.
RSF’s in-depth investigation allowed it to establish reasonable grounds that Palestine TV correspondent Mohammed Abu Hatab and Al-Istiklal correspondent Mohamed Nasr Abu Huwaidi were targeted by Israeli strikes when they were killed on 2 November and 23 December 2023, respectively.
RSF calls on the ICC to investigate these crimes as a matter of priority, as well as the murder of over 130 other journalists – 32 of whom were targeted while working – killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since 7 October. Above all, RSF calls on the ICC prosecutor to press charges against the perpetrators identified by their investigation.
RSF’s complaints are based on a wide body of research and information gathered by its correspondents and other sources on the ground – despite the blockade and severe communication problems that plague Gaza. This verification process takes a range of content into account, including videos, testimonies, and online documents.
