The Qatari network Al Jazeera stated in a statement on Saturday that it had decided to refer the case of the ‘assassination’ of one of its photographers in Gaza to the International Criminal Court.
Al Jazeera added in its statement, which was carried by Reuters: ‘We have decided to urgently refer the file of the crime of assassinating our colleague photographer Samer Abu Daqqa to the International Criminal Court.’
Al Jazeera said that its photographer Abu Daqqa was killed in an Israeli drone strike on Friday while covering a previous bombing of a school used as a shelter for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip.
Dozens participated on Saturday in the city of Khan Yunis in the funeral procession of Abu Daqqa, according to the French Press Agency.
The mourners performed the prayer for Abu Daqqa, who was born in 1978, in the largest city in the south of the Strip. The body was shrouded, laid out, and his helmet and bulletproof vest, which were labeled ‘Press’, were placed on him.”
Al Jazeera reported the killing of their cameraperson, Samer Abudaqa, in an Israeli drone strike while he was covering a bombing at a school in Khan Younis, Gaza. The strike was part of a broader pattern of violence in various locations across Gaza, including Shujayea, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah, and Beit Hanoon. The network condemned the attack and held Israel accountable for “systematically targeting and killing Al Jazeera journalists and their families.” In a statement, they emphasized the prolonged suffering of Samer, who was allegedly left to bleed to death for over 5 hours as Israeli forces prevented ambulances and rescue workers from reaching him.
The recent escalation in Gaza has been marked by a significant and tragic impact on journalists, with several reports highlighting the dangers faced by media personnel in the region.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) highlighted the severity of the situation in Gaza, identifying it as the deadliest place for journalists in 2023. At least 13 journalists were killed while actively covering the war, with a total of 56 journalists killed in Gaza irrespective of the line of their work. Despite the high death toll in Gaza, RSF noted that the overall number of journalists killed worldwide in 2023 was the lowest in decades. They attribute this to fewer journalists being targeted in Latin America and less violence in countries like Syria and Iraq. RSF filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court for “war crimes” over the deaths of journalists in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas
