The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has threatened to take legal action against Israeli politicians and military leaders if they do not adhere to the International Court of Justice’s orders regarding the targeting of journalists.
The IFJ’s President, Dominique Pradalié, and Secretary-General, Anthony Bellanger, have written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, informing them that the 600,000 members of the IFJ consider journalists in Gaza as their colleagues and are concerned about their safety.
The recent war in Gaza has been described by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as the deadliest in modern history for journalists. According to CPJ, 68 media workers were killed in the first 10 weeks of the fighting, including 61 Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese. This concentration of journalists’ deaths in such a short period is unprecedented in CPJ’s records and highlights the grave risks faced by the press in the region. Among the casualties was Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa, who was killed in an Israeli drone strike while reporting from a school in Khan Younis.
Reuters also reported on the dangerous conditions for journalists in Gaza, emphasizing that the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war have been the deadliest recorded for journalists in a single location in one year. The report raises concerns about an apparent pattern of targeting journalists and their families by the Israeli military, although a spokesperson for Israel’s military stated that their forces do not target journalists.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate has stated that Israel has killed at least 102 journalists in Gaza since October 7th. The deaths of journalists like Hamza al-Dahdouh of Al Jazeera and freelance journalist Mustafa Thuraya, who worked for Agence France-Presse, have been particularly highlighted. These incidents underline the perilous conditions under which journalists are operating in Gaza and the significant impact on press freedom and the dissemination of information from the conflict zone.
