Israel has never admitted to unlawfully killing a journalist
Some 152 journalists and media workers have been killed since the beginning of this conflict.
The Israeli military has never once given an admission of an unlawful killing of a Palestinian civilian or even a journalist. They maintain that they go after Hamas targets and sites.
Some legal experts say that perhaps this is to remove the Palestinian journalists who are there to bring us the stories on the ground that we see every day.
As we know foreign journalists are not allowed into the Gaza Strip unless it is through Israeli army embeds where they control what the media sees. They are not allowed to go on their own into Gaza.
Investigation finds more than 20 journalists from one outlet killed in Gaza war
The Guardian has published an investigation into the Israeli military conduct that suggests that certain Palestinian journalists are viewed as targets for attack.
A senior Israeli official, Olivier Rafowicz, told one of The Guardian’s media partners that there is no difference between working for a media outlet affiliated with Hamas and being a fighter in the Qassam Brigades.
He went on to elaborate that there is “no difference between the political and the military wing of Hamas”. Those statements prompted the Israeli military to release a correction and a retraction, saying that these are not its official standards.
A spokesperson reiterated that the Israeli military does not target media personnel: “Rafowicz erred as these comments mischaracterise [the Israeli military’s] targeting policy.” Targeting journalists violates international law.
However, human rights experts have pointed to the high death tolls among Palestinian journalists on the ground in Gaza. More than 103 Palestinian media workers have been killed so far, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In its investigation, The Guardian found at least 23 members of the Al-Aqsa network, a media channel linked to Hamas, were killed.
VIDEO: The AFP office in Gaza, which was badly damaged by a strike on 2 November, was probably hit by Israeli tank fire, according to an investigation by AFP and several international media, for which several experts were interviewed.#AFPVertical pic.twitter.com/uz63VbfNyU
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 26, 2024
Israeli parliament approves bill to extend ‘Al Jazeera Law’: Report
According to the Jerusalem Post, the Knesset has given initial approval to extend and permanently implement the “Al Jazeera Law“, a measure that grants Israeli authorities the power to shut down foreign media sources deemed to be a threat to national security.
Wednesday’s preliminary vote concerned a law passed in April. That law allowed the government to block Al Jazeera’s broadcasts in Israel and shut down its offices.
The measure, however, was designed to be temporary, setting up a system of judicial review and government reapproval of the decision every 45 days, the Jerusalem Post reported. An expiration date was also set for July 31.
But Wednesday’s bill cancelled the July 31 expiration date, paving the way for the law to become remain in force indefinitely.
It also extended the need for government reapproval from every 45 days to every 90 days and added a provision that the communications minister could “direct government agencies responsible for the issue to stop the channel’s broadcast”.
A spokesperson for Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi explained that this would enable the government to block not just cable, but also satellite broadcasts.
Civil rights groups have argued that the “Al Jazeera law” violates freedom of expression, freedom of the press and the right to information.
