Protesters rally outside offices of major US outlets in Washington, DC
Several hundred demonstrators have gathered outside a building in Washington, DC, which houses the headquarters of various media organisations, including NBC, Fox News, ITN and the Guardian.
The demonstrators say their coverage of the genocide in Gaza has given Israel room to kill so many Palestinians and, notably, so many journalists.
They have lit candles here for each of the journalists killed by Israel, and a particular focus today, obviously, is Anas al-Sharif.
One of the protest organisers, Hazami Barmada, slammed the coverage of these outlets.
“These media companies in this building helped manufacture public consent for the murder of these journalists by manufacturing stories, in essence by making excuses for the Israeli government to target and kill them,” she said. “And after their death, continue to justify the illegal death, shooting, bombing and murdering journalists, which is a crime against humanity and a war crime.”
The protesters here are banging pots and pans, making as much noise as possible, because they know the evening bulletins of various news and current affairs programmes are currently live in this building. They are trying to disrupt the narratives that are being told on these programmes. Their message is, look, you are no longer the gatekeepers, we know what’s happening in Gaza. We know about the genocide despite your best efforts.
PEN America says Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza could be a war crime
The free speech group has said that Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza “raises grave concerns” and “could amount to a war crime”.
“This attack not only wiped out an entire team of journalists – at a time when there are fewer and fewer voices able to report from Gaza – but also took six more Palestinian lives in an onslaught that has already claimed thousands of lives,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, managing director of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center at PEN America.
“The fact that [Anas] al-Sharif’s family, friends, and colleagues must now defend him from unsupported accusations rather than being able to mourn him and honour his legacy as a journalist adds to the disgraceful nature of this crime,” added Gerntholtz.
PEN America also noted that al-Sharif was previously part of a Reuters team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2024.
Palestinians protest against the killing of journalists in Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 11
Australian journalists’ union condemns targeted killing of media workers in Gaza
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) has released a statement condemning the “targeted killing of the five Palestinian media workers and the killing of nearly 200 others”.
The largest organisation representing journalists in Australia said Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif’s “reports brought to the world the reality of the horrors being inflicted by the Israeli Government on the civilians in Gaza”.
“He asked the world to not forget Gaza and to not forget him,” the MEAA said. “Shockingly, the Israeli military confirmed the targeted killing on social media, with a post to X accompanied by a target emoji,” it added.
“The targeting of journalists is a blatant attack on press freedom, and it is also a war crime,” MEAA said. “It must stop.”
The journalists’ union also called for Israel’s ban preventing international journalists from reporting from Gaza to be lifted, to provide “unfettered coverage of the worsening humanitarian crisis”.
MEAA condemns targeted attacks on Gaza journalists as a war crime as toll nears 200 deaths. pic.twitter.com/FTtwbE9sab
— MEAA (@withMEAA) August 11, 2025
Belfast, Dublin hold protests after Israeli killing of journalists in Gaza
Demonstrations have been held in Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast and Republic of Ireland’s capital Dublin, after a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent was killed in a targeted Israeli attack in Gaza City at the weekend, alongside four colleagues and a freelancer.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) organised demonstrations at Writer’s Square in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter and at the Spire in Dublin on Monday evening to condemn the killings.
“This is a horrific attack,” NUJ general secretary Laura Davison said. “We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the murdered journalists and their colleagues. Journalists have specific rights under international law and once again these rights have been violated while other civilians have been killed as collateral damage.”
Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, Simon Harris, also offered “sympathy and solidarity” to Al Jazeera and the families of the victims, calling the strike “a horrifying attack in Gaza” and “the silencing of some of the few journalistic voices left”.
“Any attack on any civilian, including … any attack on any journalist, should always be absolutely condemned,” he said, adding that Israel’s government appeared to be “going in the complete opposite direction” of a ceasefire.
