The genocide brought Palestinian journalists closer together and created a collective with a single, unified mission: to tell the truth about what’s happening in Gaza. That is why Israel is assassinating them.
Israel murdered Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues because genocide can only proceed without witnesses. Western media outlets have failed to condemn the systematic murder of Palestinian journalists, and in the process have become accomplices.
The Israeli army killed Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif and five of his colleagues in a targeted strike on a journalists’ tent outside al-Shifa Hospital. The attack has effectively wiped out all of Al Jazeera’s staff in Gaza City.
Israel’s policy of blocking international reporters from entering Gaza is cruel and aims to prevent the world from learning about the unfolding genocide. Tragically, the mainstream press has rarely mentioned the restriction, let alone condemned it.
Journalists in Gaza know they could be killed at any moment by the Israeli army for telling the truth. It doesn’t stop them from doing their jobs.
The Israeli army killed my colleague Hassan Eslayeh in his hospital bed. He predicted his death before it happened, because he knew journalists in Gaza are the only people in the world bearing witness to the greatest crime of our times.
A new documentary on the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh reveals that Israeli soldiers use her photo for target practice. This exposes the Israeli mentality that journalists are “fair game”, and that the killing of journalists in Gaza is no accident.
Israel targeted my colleague, Hassan Eslayeh, claiming that he was a Hamas fighter. This isn’t the first time Israel has used this lie to justify targeting journalists, paramedics, and rescue workers.
Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour were the latest Palestinian journalists to be assassinated in Gaza. Responsibility for their killings rests in part on their Western colleagues who have failed to accurately cover Israel’s genocidal assault.
There is a well-established pattern of Israeli forces targeting Palestinian journalists. We must break this cycle of impunity by transparently investigating Israel’s crimes.