KARACHI (IFJ/AFP): The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned ‘Israel’s seemingly deliberate targeting and killing of Media persons’ in Gaza following a drone strike that killed two and injured one on 7 January.
Al Jazeera journalist and cameraman Hamza Al-Dahdouh, son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh, and freelance videographer Mustafa Thuraya, who worked for Agence France Presse (AFP), were killed in an Israeli drone strike while travelling on assignment in a vehicle, according to Al Jazeera, near the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, local and international media reported.
IFJ joins its affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS), in condemning the killings of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, refutes Israel’s official stand that there were terrorists in the car, and reiterates that the deliberate assassination of civilians, including journalists, is a war crime.
The Israeli drone attack that killed two journalists, severely injured a third freelance journalist, Hazem Rajab, who was in the car.
The Media crew was driving after having filmed the aftermath of an Israeli bombing of a family house in the southern city of Rafah that killed tens of civilians.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that two other journalists were injured in the strike: Ahmed Al-Burash and Amer Abu Amr, who work for Palestine Today TV.
The Qatar-based Media network Al Jazeera accused Israel of deliberately targeting the car, where Palestinian journalists were travelling on assignment.
A spokesperson from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), quoted by the Times of Israel, said that “a military aircraft identified and struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft in a way that put the IDF at risk”.
Weeks after the start of the war in Gaza, the Israeli military announced that it could not guarantee the safety of journalists in the enclave.
On 28 October, the IFJ, together with its affiliate, the PJS, called on the Israeli government to fully comply with international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and to act to prevent any war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
To date, at least 78 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed during the war in Gaza, according to IFJ data.
The Federation works hard to keep its list up-to-date and accurate, seeking multiple sources for each name added, and concentrating on those who worked as journalists and Media workers.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “We mourn the death of our colleagues Hamza Al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya.
“Our thoughts are with their families and their beloved ones.
“I strongly condemn the outrageous Israeli drone strike against the car, where Palestinian journalists on duty were travelling and reiterate that the perpetrators of the crime must be held to account.”
The IFJ warns that all Palestinian journalists are under surveillance by Israel, which uses sophisticated innovations in artificial intelligence to track them.
“According to Article 79 of the Geneva Convention, journalists in war zones must be treated as civilians and protected as such.
“The IFJ recalls that the contravention of the mentioned article is a war crime as it is the deliberate assassination of civilians, including journalists,” Bellanger concluded.
“The Israeli military has previously boasted about its AI targeting systems that allows it to identify potential victims at great speed and scale.
“Israel is the home of some of the most sophisticated surveillance systems that have repeatedly been used against journalists.
“Without proof to the contrary all the evidence points to the assassination of reporters and camera operators. This cannot be allowed to continue”, the Federation says.
Newspakistan.tv/IFJ/AFP
