IPI strongly condemns the attack on Hazem Nasser, a photojournalist at al-Ghad TV channel, who was shot and seriously wounded during an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on June 19. Similarly to Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli forces in 2022, Nasser was wearing a vest clearly marked “press”.  We demand that Israel uphold its obligation under human rights law and humanitarian law to investigate this attack and hold perpetrators accountable. 

During the raid, Nasser and a number of other journalists were trapped and shot at by snipers, according to reports. Nasser was hit in the waist by a bullet and seriously wounded, and eventually was able to be evacuated by a team of medics. He remains hospitalized, and his condition is unclear.

Hafiz Abu Sabra, another journalist, told WAFA News Agency that his vehicle was fired on by Israeli military forces while he was reporting on the raid, which killed at least five and saw the first use of combat helicopters in the West Bank by Israeli military forces since at least 2005.

A video published by the Telegraph shows the group of journalists hiding from gunfire, while Palestinian journalist Ashraf Shawish says, “As you can see, we are directly being targeted by a sniper and being shot at, and [have] no way to evacuate.” All of the journalists, including Nasser, are wearing vests and helmets, clearly marked as “press”.

The Palestinian Journalists Forum told the Middle East Monitor that the targeting of Nasser “proves that the Israeli occupation forces shoot journalists and media crews intentionally.”

This raid took place in the same city as the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, the veteran Al Jazeera journalist and 2022 IPI-IMS World Press Freedom Hero who was shot and killed in May 2022. Multiple independent investigations have shown that she was killed by a member of the Israeli Defense Forces, and was targeted despite wearing a vest and helmet, clearly marked as “press”. Though the Israeli government has now admitted a “high possibility” that she was killed by Israeli fire, they maintain that it was an accidental killing and refused to further investigate. 

Palestinian journalists have been repeatedly targeted by the Israeli military — 20 journalists have died in 22 years, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports. In none of these killings has anyone been charged or held responsible, and in five, an investigation or probe was not even announced. 

“IPI stands with the family and colleagues of Hazem Nasser, a photojournalist who now is suffering serious injuries for doing his job. Unfortunately, this is part of an appalling pattern of attacks by Israeli soldiers on Palestinian reporters”, IPI Director of Advocacy Amy Brouillette said. “For years the IDF has targeted Palestinian journalists with impunity. The international community must step up and do more to hold Israel accountable.”