Al Jazeera staff gather to condemn Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza
Our colleagues have gathered at the our network headquarters in Doha to condemn the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and camera operator Rami al-Rifi in Gaza.
They called for justice and held banners, reading: “Killing Journalists is a Crime”.
UN calls on Israel to stop killing journalists
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has reiterated its calls for the Israeli army “to minimize the impact of military operations on civilians in Gaza and to end the killing of journalists”.
The comments came in a statement published in reaction to the killing of Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi in an Israeli drone strike on their car yesterday.
“OHCHR reiterates that journalists are civilians and thus protected from attack under international humanitarian law unless they are directly participating in hostilities and that the intentional killing of journalists is a war crime,” it said.
“Palestinian journalists play a critical role in informing the world of the reality in Gaza, where Israel has not allowed international journalists to enter. Silencing Palestinian journalists conceals the shocking reality in Gaza.”
You have called on Israel to stop killing journalists many times before. When are you going to do something...
Israeli attack on journalists’ car also killed teenage cyclist delivering food to elderly
Israel’s deadly attack on the car of Al Jazeera staff has also killed Khaled Saed al-Shawa, a 17-year-old riding a bicycle “to do good”.
Speaking to Al Jazeera over the phone, his mother said the teenager was carrying food to an elderly man in the Shati refugee camp when the drone strike hit the nearby vehicle that killed Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi.
“The elderly man and his injured son did not have any relatives, and my son was trying to do good with them and go with his bag that appeared in the video circulating to transport food to this elderly man and his son,” Khaled’s mother said. “He was a passerby and did not do anything for them. Why did they kill him?”
She went on to call for the international community to stop the killing of innocent children in Gaza.
UN expert slams international media silence on AJ reporter killing
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, has slammed international media who have “remained silent” on the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his camera operator Rami al-Rifi.
“Much of the news from Gaza they have either ignored or doubted about, come from Palestinian journalists who have literally been slaughtered for doing their job,” Albanese said on X.
#Ismail_AlGhoul was decapitated while reporting. Int' #media - who have either remained silent or amplified the narrative of the oppressor during 9+ genocidal months in #palestine- should be ashamed. Much of the news from #Gaza they have either ignored or doubted about, come from… https://t.co/811Zg9vyNM
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) August 1, 2024
Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat, reporting from Gaza, said they buried al-Ghoul without his head as he was decapitated when an Israeli missile hit his car. Al-Rifi also died on the spot.
According to preliminary figures by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 111 journalists and media workers are among those killed since the start of the war on October 7.
Al Jazeera rejects Israeli army claims killed journalist was Hamas member
Earlier today, Israel’s army spokesperson confirmed an air strike targeted and killed Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his colleague Rami al-Rifi in Gaza on Wednesday.
The spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, claimed that al-Ghoul was a Hamas member and took part in the October 7 attack on Israel.
Al Jazeera Media Network strongly refutes the baseless allegations made by the Israeli occupation forces in an attempt to justify its deliberate killing of our colleague.
The Israeli occupation forces had previously abducted Ismail on March 18 during their raid on al-Shifa Hospital, detaining him for a period of time before his release, which debunks and refutes their false claim of his affiliation with any organisation.
The network condemns the accusations against its correspondent, without providing any proof, documentation or video, and highlights Israel’s long history of fabrications and false evidence used to cover up its heinous crimes, while also denying journalists from around the world access to the Gaza Strip to report on the deteriorating humanitarian conditions and the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.
Al Jazeera Media Network calls for an independent international investigation into the brutal and heinous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against its journalists and staff since the beginning of the war on Gaza.
