Press Releases

The Assassination of Al Jazeera Journalists as Part of a Campaign to Impose a Media Blackout on Violations in the Gaza Strip

The Hague Initiative for Law and Justice strongly condemns the horrific assassination committed by the Israeli occupation forces on August 10 against Al Jazeera’s crew — journalists Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammad Qreiqah, Ibrahim Zahir, Mohammad Nofal, Mo’men Alouwa, and Mohammad Al-Khaldi — after targeting their tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza CityThis crime is part of a long series of systematic and deliberate targeting of journalists and media workers in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli assault on October 7, 2023. Our monitoring and documentation confirms the killing of 238 journalists as a result of deliberate, direct attacks, amid the ongoing denial of entry to foreign press into Gaza to cover the violations and atrocities committed by the Israeli army thereThe Initiative recalls the media incitement campaigns targeting influential Palestinian journalists, including a direct campaign against Anas Al-Sharif prior to his assassination, similar to the earlier killing of journalist Hassan Asleeh who had also been subjected to an organized incitement campaign. The Initiative affirms that such conduct constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and relevant international resolutions, particularly UN Security Council Resolutions 1738 and 2222, which stress the urgent need to protect journalists during armed conflictsThe assassination of Al Jazeera’s crew coincides with the Israeli government’s approval of a plan to occupy Gaza City. The Initiative considers this latest Israeli crime as part of that plan, aiming to impose a broad media blackout on serious violations of international law and potential war crimes during the city’s occupationThis new Israeli crime further demonstrates the grave failure of the international community to fulfill its obligations to suppress violations, hold perpetrators accountable, and prevent impunity. Gaza has become one of the most flagrant examples in the world where international law is being violated on a mass scale. The Initiative warns of the immense impact of the continuing Israeli crimes on the structure of international law and orderThe Hague Initiative for Law and Justice, while renewing its strong condemnation of this assassination, announces its intention to refer the case of targeting journalists and the grave violations committed against them in the Gaza Strip to the International Criminal Court, as war crimes and crimes against humanity, and as part of a broader policy of systematic genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza