The IPI global network today reiterates its call on the international community to take urgent and immediate action to ensure the safety of all journalists in Gaza, as Israel intensifies bombardments in the northern region of the territory. We urge all states – particularly allies of Israel and members of the Media Freedom Coalition – to use all available diplomatic means to pressure Israel to respect international rules of war, which requires states to protect journalists, as civilians, during times of armed conflict. The targeted and indiscriminate killing of journalists and civilians in Gaza must stop, and perpetrators must be held fully accountable for any violations of the Geneva Conventions and other international human rights treaties and obligations.

The Israel-Hamas War has been the deadliest conflict for journalists on record. Since Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel, at least 128 journalists have been killed–nearly all of which were Palestinian journalists or media workers killed by Israeli strikes. Independent investigations, including those conducted by Forbidden Stories and their partners have found clear evidence of journalists having been intentionally targeted by the Israeli military – which constitutes a war crime.

This includes the killing of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah by the Israel military in southern Lebanon on October 13, 2024. Investigations by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Agence France-Presse (AFP), and Reuters have all concluded that Abdallah’s killing was deliberate, and that he was easily identifiable as a member of the press.

Israeli authorities have also prohibited international journalists from entering and reporting from inside Gaza, significantly limiting information about the war from within Gaza, and documenting evidence of potential war crimes.

Over the past year IPI with our executive board and global network repeatedly called for an immediate end to the killing of journalists in Gaza as well as for international media to be allowed unfettered access to report independently from inside Gaza.

In May, IPI and our partner IMS jointly presented the 2024 World Press Freedom Hero award to Palestinian journalists in Gaza. The award recognized the extraordinary courage and resilience that Palestinian journalists have demonstrated in covering the war in Gaza.

This spate of unprecedented violence against journalists in Gaza over the past year is part of a broader pattern of targeted attacks on journalists and media outlets in Palestine by the Israeli military, including the targeted killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist and IPI World Press Freedom Hero Shireen Abu Akleh in May 2022.

Israel has consistently flouted calls by intergovernmental bodies, such as the UN, and civil society, including press freedom and human rights groups, to respect these obligations.

As the bombardments in Gaza continue and military action in the region widens, IPI repeats its call on the international community to use all diplomatic avenues to hold Israel to its international obligations to respect press freedom and journalists’ safety.

The international community must urge Israel to:

  • Ensure journalists can report safely and independently from inside Gaza, in accordance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law. This includes allowing for the passage of essential equipment, protective gear, and other aid to journalists inside the territory, as well as safe passage for all injured journalists out of Gaza.

  • Immediately cease the deliberate targeting of or indiscriminate attacks against journalists, media offices, and other critical communications infrastructure, as these actions are grave breaches of international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes.

  • Launch and carry out swift, thorough, transparent, and independent investigations into the killings of all journalists, the bombings of media offices and infrastructure, in Gaza and the West Bank. These investigations must include the full involvement of independent international experts or observers and must follow UN protocols for conducting investigations into human rights abuses.

  • Allow immediate and independent access to the Gaza Strip by international media and foreign correspondents, who have been barred from entering the region except in limited circumstances.