The International Criminal Court (ICC) has officially announced its investigation into potential war crimes against journalists in the midst of the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. Dozens of reporters have lost their lives since the outbreak of hostilities.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media advocacy group, disclosed in November that it had submitted a complaint to the ICC in The Hague, accusing both parties of war crimes related to the deaths of journalists covering the conflict.
On Monday, RSF revealed that the office of prosecutor Karim Khan has confirmed the inclusion of crimes against journalists in the ICC’s broader investigation into Palestine. The court echoed this affirmation, stating, “The ICC Office of the Prosecutor’s investigation into the situation in the State of Palestine concerns crimes committed within the Court’s jurisdiction since 13 June 2014.”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 79 journalists and media professionals, the majority of whom are Palestinian, have been killed in the past three months of the war.
In a recent incident, Al Jazeera reported that two of its Palestinian journalists, Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria, were killed in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli strike on their car. The Israeli army defended its actions, describing the strike as targeting “a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat” and acknowledging awareness of additional suspects in the vehicle.
The United Nations’s human rights office expressed deep concern on Monday about the high death toll among media workers in Gaza, particularly after the recent deaths of the Al Jazeera journalists.
The Gaza conflict erupted following an October 7 attack by Hamas gunmen, resulting in approximately 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to AFP figures. In response, Israel launched extensive bombardments and a ground invasion of Gaza, causing the deaths of at least 23,210 people, primarily women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.
