Israeli Army Targets Journalists in Siege of Gaza
Samer Abu Daqqa is laid to rest along with his press gear after being killed by IDF airstrikes in the area of Khan Younis, Gaza. Also pictured is Wael ad-Dahdouh (center, in press uniform), for whom Mr. Abu Daqqa was operating as his camera person. Mr. Abu Daqqa and Mr. ad-Dahdouh are among dozens of Palestinian journalists who have been targeted by the IDF, with such targeted attacks also extending to the family members of the press. Source for Photo: Belal Khaled via Al Jazeera.
Since October 7, Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Lebanon has been the deadliest war for journalists in history. Over 100 journalists and other media employees have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7th, raising alarm amongst journalism organizations like the Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) that journalists are being intentionally targeted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
War is dangerous to everyone, journalists included. Journalists that are not embedded in a military unit are considered civilians and thus protected under the Geneva Convention. Despite efforts to protect journalists in the field, such as having them wear identifying gear, some casualties can still be expected in warfare. For context, 63 journalists were killed in the Vietnam War over the span of two decades, and 69 during the deadliest war in modern history, World War II, from 1939 to 1945. In Gaza, both of these numbers have been dwarfed in just over three months.
Before October 7, the International Federation of Journalists estimated that there were about 1,000 journalists in Gaza. Up to 10% of journalists in Gaza have been killed in the past 3 months, and many others have fled for safety. Journalists have been killed at a much higher rate than the rest of the Gazan population, which has suffered a shocking 1% loss.
Of course, the behavior of working journalists puts them at higher risk in a warzone. Reporters are more likely to work in open areas vulnerable to attack rather than taking shelter, for example. Still, Palestinian journalists have reported being deliberately targeted by the IDF.
On December 15, Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa was injured by an Israeli drone strike on the Farhana school in Khan Younis. For hours, Abu Daqqa was unable to receive care as an ambulance approaching the area came under fire by the IDF. According to Ibrahim Qanan, a reporter on the scene, Abu Daqqa crawled for 200 meters seeking help before being hit directly by a second fatal drone strike.
Al Jazeera has referred the killing of Samer Abu Daqqa to the International Criminal Court in its second case against the Israeli military in as many years. In the previous case in 2022, Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead and a colleague injured while reporting on an Israeli raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank. She and her colleagues were clearly identifiable as press, standing in the open, and in an area where no Palestinian fighters were present when they were fired upon by Israeli soldiers. Her funeral was subsequently attacked by Israeli forces.
Not only are journalists being targeted by the IDF, their families are being threatened as well. This makes the already difficult and dangerous job of reporting in a war zone nearly impossible; journalists are already aware of the risk to their own lives, but to risk the lives of one’s family is another issue entirely.
Anas Al-Sharif, a reporter for Al Jazeera, reported that he had received a number of threatening phone calls and messages purportedly from members of the Israeli military. The callers ordered him to cease coverage and flee south, and appeared to be able to determine his location. On December 11, a strike on Al-Sharif’s family home killed his 90-year-old father.
Wael al-Dahdouh, an Al Jazeera reporter present and injured at the scene of Abu Daqqa’s death, has also lost much of his family to Israeli airstrikes. In addition to having been targeted with his crew on December 15 in the strike that took Abu Daqqa’s life, al-Dahdouh lost his wife, one grandson, and two of his children in an October airstrike on the Nuseriat refugee camp – located in an area to which the IDF asked Palestinians to locate – and another son in a separate incident a few days ago. His youngest child, Sham, was among those killed at 7 years old.
Al-Dahdouh heard the news of his loved ones’ death live on camera while delivering a report. Rather than rushing to the hospital, a colleague working out of Al-Aqsa advised him to go to the house to help pull his own family from the rubble. Wael and his cameraman, Hamdan al-Dahdouh, were able to rescue two of Wael’s children, but it was too late to save his grandson, Adam, who was not yet two years old when he died.
Then, his oldest son was killed in another attack on January 7. Hamza al-Dahdouh, 27, was himself a journalist for Al Jazeera when he and another journalist were killed by an airstrike on their car. Two other journalists survived the strike.
Despite attacks on himself and his family by the Israeli military, Wael al-Dahdou’s commitment to reporting on Gaza has been awe-inspiring. He has continued to provide round-the-clock coverage on the siege, even reporting from the Al-Aqsa Hospital where he said his last goodbyes to his wife and two children and at his eldest son’s funeral.
“The whole world must look at what is happening here in the Gaza Strip. What is happening is a great injustice to defenseless people, civilian people. It is also unfair for us as journalists,” he told Al Jazeera after burying his son.
Israel’s pattern of journalist killings is nothing new. According to an AP News article published in May, the Israeli military has been responsible for the deaths of 20 journalists in the last 2 decades. None of these killings have led to prosecution or punishment for those involved, despite international protections for journalists.
Journalists reporting from Israel and the West Bank have also been targeted for harassment, violence, and arrest. More than a dozen Palestinian journalists have been arrested for their reporting in the West Bank, with Israel’s administrative detention laws meaning that detainees can be held without charge indefinitely. Two BBC Arabic reporters were held at gunpoint and one was assaulted in Tel Aviv. In addition, one Al Jazeera reporter was hospitalized after an attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Israel has also taken an authoritarian approach towards press freedom domestically. In October, the Israeli government passed a law that would allow the state to temporarily shut down foreign news channels that it deems harmful to national security during its state of emergency. The law has already been used to block pro-Iranian channel Al Mayadeen, but the government has since walked back plans to shutter Al Jazeera’s local bureau. Israeli newspaper Haaretz has also been threatened with financial penalties for its critical coverage of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Long touted as “the only democracy in the Middle East,” Israel has consistently shown an incredible contempt for the freedom of the press in its own territory and the occupied Gaza Strip. After two decades of killing journalists with complete impunity, it is no surprise that violence against press workers has continued and intensified during its siege on Gaza.
By relentlessly targeting journalists and their families, the IDF is making it impossible for coverage of their crimes against Palestinian civilians to continue. Despite this, many continue to push forward even under great risk to their own lives: Yousef Alhelou and Plestia Alaqad are among those still reporting despite their harrowing conditions. Other heroes like Bisan were not previously journalists by trade but have taken it upon themselves to document the tragic conditions of Gazans.
Palestinian journalists will continue to tell their stories – and continue to die for it. By failing to address Israel’s targeting of journalists or make meaningful progress towards a permanent ceasefire, the international community has failed to live up to any pretense that journalists, or indeed any civilians, have a right to protection.