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UN rapporteur calls for protection of Al Jazeera journalists
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory, has said Israel’s declaration that six Al Jazeera journalists are members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad “sounds like a death sentence”.
“These 6 Palestinians are among the last journalists surviving Israel’s onslaught in Gaza [with 130+ of their colleagues killed in the last year],” Albanese wrote on X. “They must be protected at all costs.”
Al Jazeera Media Network has strongly condemned the accusations by Israel’s military, saying it views them “as a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide”.
The network noted that Israeli forces in Gaza have killed more than 100 journalists and media workers in the past year, including several Al Jazeera journalists, “in an attempt to silence the messenger”.
Al Jazeera decries ‘unfounded’ Israeli claims about its Gaza journalists
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/23/al-jazeera-decries-unfounded-israeli-claims-about-its-gaza-journalists
Al Jazeera Media Network has vehemently condemned the Israeli military’s “unfounded allegations” accusing six of its journalists based in war-torn Gaza of having links to armed groups.
“Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces’ portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence,” the network said in a statement.
“The Network views these fabricated accusations as a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide,” the statement read.
Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif is among the six correspondents named in the Israeli army’s statement
Committee to Protect Journalists questions Israel’s claims about Al Jazeera reporters
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said it is “aware of accusations” made by the Israeli military against several Al Jazeera journalists, but highlighted Israel has “repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence”.
“After killing Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail [al-Ghoul] in July, the [Israeli military] previously produced a similar document, which contained contradictory information, showing that [al-Ghoul], born in 1997, received a Hamas military ranking in 2007 – when he would have been 10 years old,” the press freedom group said in a post on X.
As we previously reported, the Israeli military has named six Al Jazeera journalists based in Gaza, claiming, without providing any evidence, that the men are members of armed groups.
In August, the CPJ made a public call for Israel to cease “smearing” the reputations of the Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli military, and for the establishment of “international, swift, and independent investigations into these killings”.
Mourners and colleagues holding ‘press’ signs surround the body of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, who was killed along with cameraman Rami al-Rifi, in an Israeli strike during their coverage of Gaza’s Shati refugee camp, on July 31, 2024
Israel’s accusation against Al Jazeera journalists is a ‘dangerous escalation'
The recent allegations against Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza are part of a troubling trend by the Israeli army. This time, the army has released a dossier accusing several journalists of being affiliated with Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
As we’ve seen earlier, Al Jazeera has firmly rejected these claims, and Palestinian groups monitoring violations against journalists have raised serious concerns. They argue that these allegations pose a direct threat to the safety and lives of the journalists involved.
Over the past year, nearly 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza, including colleagues from Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank. Additionally, more than 120 journalists have been arrested by Israeli authorities, with 52 still imprisoned.
Many of these journalists are arrested simply for being journalists or for posting the news online on social media. They’re not accused of anything. They’re not tried for any crime. Given the backdrop of Israel’s ban on Al Jazeera’s operations in the occupied West Bank and the targeted attacks on journalists in Gaza, this dossier is viewed as a dangerous escalation. It intensifies the already significant risks faced by journalists in the region.
Israeli soldiers raid, order closure of Al Jazeera office in Ramallah, September 22, 2024
