Israel-Hamas conflict: 113 journalists became victims of the press

According to the latest data released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on August 5, 2023, at least 113 journalists and media workers alone were killed. According to CPJ, this 10-month period of the Israel-Hamas war has been the deadliest for journalists since 1992.

On the other hand, the "International Federation of Journalists" (IFJ) stated that 4 Israeli media personnel were killed in the attack by Hamas, while it claimed that 120 Palestinian and 3 Lebanese journalists died due to the Israeli attack. Due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, journalists working in Gaza in particular face high risks.

According to CPJ, despite ground and air strikes by the Israeli military in Gaza, disrupted communications, supply shortages and widespread power outages, journalists continue to report on the conflict. Due to the intense conflict, the CPJ is also finding it difficult to gather objective information about the activities taking place in the war zone. CPJ, an organization working to protect journalists, has also mentioned on its official website that it is investigating about 350 cases of possible killings, arrests and injuries during the conflict.

'Journalists are paying the heaviest price for reporting since the war in Gaza began. They are continuing to report despite putting their lives on the line. Despite the constant lack of adequate security, equipment, international presence, communication and food, they are still taking risks to tell the world the truth,' says CPJ program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York. Fallen or forced into exile, we lose even the remnants of truth. Those responsible for these casualties must face a double trial, one under international law and the other history will never forgive them.'

journalists are also citizens and are protected by international law. Deliberately targeting unarmed civilians is considered a war crime. The International Criminal Court also issued arrest warrants in May to bring Hamas and Israeli leaders to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. CPJ's research so far has shown that the Israeli army has targeted and killed 3 journalists. It said that 10 other incidents were also targeted at journalists and further investigation is underway.

On July 31, 27-year-old Palestinian journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his friend and cameraman Rami al-Refi, working for Al Jazeera, died on the spot after Israeli forces fired a missile at their car. Al Jazeera as well as the BBC and other international media have mentioned that a missile was fired targeting the vehicle they were traveling in at the Al Sahtei camp near Gaza City. According to the published news, the ghouls were killed while wearing 'uniform' with press written on it. Just an hour before al-Ghoul and al-Refi were killed, they were broadcasting news from outside his residence in Gaza about the assassination of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. They were leaving the scene after Israel fired a missile at a building near where they were reporting, Al Jazeera said in a live broadcast of the incident. While news in the Gulf this week has focused on other high-profile killings, many Palestinians have focused on the killing of a prominent local journalist.

Last Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement claiming that Ismail al-Ghoul was a "military associate of Hamas and a Nukba terrorist". The Israeli army claimed he was part of an elite unit of Hamas. According to the Israeli military, he would instruct other Hamas operatives on how to "record their operations" and use them against the IDF. However, the IDF did not include Rafi's name in its statement.

Al Jazeera has called the allegations made by the Israeli army against its members "baseless". "It shows how Israel has long used fabricated and false evidence to cover up its heinous crimes," the BBC quoted Al Jazeera as saying. Ismail's brother, Jihad, told the BBC that his brother was a citizen who told the outside world about the suffering of the Palestinian people inside Gaza. He was a regular reporter reporting from Gaza City. Al Jazeera Arabic is a popular source of news in the Gaza Strip. That is why it has faced strong criticism from the Israeli authorities.

Gazan journalists took off their flak jackets at a gathering in honor of al-Ghoul and al-Refi. According to a friend of both of them, the journalists who were killed in the Israeli attack had not slept for several days and had not finished eating. So their weight was also reduced a lot. Ismail al-Ghoul also reported on the Israeli military raid on Sifa Hospital in March. At that time he was detained by the IDF and released after 12 hours. According to Al Jazeera, the same incident itself refutes Israel's claim that it is affiliated with any organization.

Israel has also banned the entry of international journalists into the area since it began attacking Gaza against Hamas. International journalists are not allowed to enter Palestinian territories during the war, except for limited and highly controlled visits with the Israeli military. Egypt also barred journalists from entering before closing its Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

For more than 10 months, many international networks, including the BBC, have relied on local Palestinian staff while turning to new independent journalists for additional news coverage. Ismail al-Ghoul had been working for Al Jazeera since November. In this conflict, he suffered many hardships, including the loss of his father and brother.

Other 'camerapersons' told how Al-Rifi used his technical expertise to help them with the filming.

Al Jazeera, which broadcasts news in English and Arabic, has recently suffered a series of attacks against its staff and their families in Gaza. In late October, the network's bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, received word that his wife, daughter, a son and a grandchild had been killed in an Israeli airstrike during a live news broadcast. In December, he was also injured in an attack that killed another Al Jazeera cameraman, Samer Abudaka. Similarly, Dahdouh's son Hamza and a video stringer, Mustafa Thuria, were killed in an attack in January. At that time they were also working for Al Jazeera. Even after the incident, the IDF accused them of being members of a terrorist organization based in Gaza.

The United Nations has been demanding a full investigation and accountability for the killing of Al Jazeera journalists as well as others, saying that the safety of journalists should be prioritized. The exact number of media workers killed in the war, which began after an unexpected attack by Hamas on Israel, is different.

However, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, with the latest deaths in Gaza, there were 108 Palestinians, three Lebanese and two Israelis killed in the October 7 attack.

What is the cause of the conflict?

2023 Since the early morning of Saturday, October 7, the armed forces of the Palestinian rebel group Hamas suddenly entered southern Israel and launched a rocket attack on Israeli land, and the Israeli army began a counterattack. Hamas rebels entered Israeli territory by motorcycle and parachute. According to Hamas, about 5,000 rockets were fired at Israel that morning. After the attack, the Hamas rebels took hundreds of hostages, including one Nepalese, and so far 10 Nepalese have lost their lives in the Israel-Hamas war.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have died in the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip alone. After the 1967 Middle East war, Israel occupied East Jerusalem. He has since claimed all of Jerusalem as his capital. Palestine has been taking East Jerusalem as the "capital of a future sovereign and independent country". There has been a dispute between Palestine and Israel on this issue and it has taken the form of war many times. 2,251 Palestinians were killed in the war between July and August 2014. Among them, 1,462 people were civilians. Similarly, 67 Israeli soldiers including 6 civilians were killed.

Last time in August 2022, 44 people were killed when the Israeli army launched an airstrike on a Palestinian rebel stronghold. Israel claimed to have retaliated after Palestinian rebel groups fired more than 1,000 rockets. Before that, the Israel-Palestine conflict flared up in the month of Ramadan in 2021.

250 people from the Gaza Strip and 13 from Israel were killed in the violent conflict that lasted for 11 days. Israeli forces unilaterally withdrew from Gaza after 38 years of occupation by Egypt. He left the area to Palestine. Since then, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has escalated several times.

(with the help of agencies)