Skip to content Skip to footer

Israel Targets 6 Gaza Journalists With Apparent “Assassination Threat”

The accusations are an “obvious attempt to preemptively justify our murder,” one of the journalists said.

People and a journalist rush toward the scene of an explosion following an Israeli strike which reportedly targeted a school in the Zeitoun district on the outskirts of Gaza City, on September 1, 2024.

On Wednesday, Israel issued a clear threat to six journalists who are among the only journalists left documenting atrocities in north Gaza as Israel carries out its extermination and ethnic cleansing campaign against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the region.

In a post on X, the Israeli military accused six Al Jazeera journalists of being affiliated with “Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist” groups without any evidence, referring to documents showing “proof” of these claims without posting any of the said documents.

Israel has repeatedly accused Palestinian aid workers, journalists and medical workers of being affiliated with Hamas, without any evidence, throughout its genocide — including to justify starving the entire population of Gaza. Considering Israel’s practice of targeting and killing journalists, particularly those who work for Al Jazeera, the post is a transparent death threat against those named.

The journalists accused by Israel are Anas al-Sharif, Talal Aruki, Alaa Salama, Hossam Shabat, Ismail Farid and Ashraf Saraj.

Shabat said that the claims are part of Israel’s “systematic propaganda campaign” and pledged to continue to document Israel’s genocide no matter the threats laid against him.

“Israel’s army has released fabricated dossiers framing us, the last remaining journalists in North Gaza reporting on Israel’s extermination and ethnic-cleansing campaign, as ‘terrorists,’” said Shabat. “This blatant and belligerent attempt to transform us, the last witnesses in the north, into killable targets is an assassination threat and obvious attempt to preemptively justify our murder.”

In a statement, Al Jazeera Media Network categorically rejected the claims, and condemned Israel’s threats. The genocide has resulted in the highest journalist death toll of any conflict in decades, with the Israeli military killing at least 140 journalists and media workers over the past year, and potentially far more.

In July, Israeli forces killed two Al Jazeera journalists who were some of the most prolific in north Gaza, Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi. Shabat noted that, after Israel killed al-Ghoul, Israeli officials claimed to release documentation of the journalist receiving a military ranking from Hamas in 2007, when he was only 10 years old.

“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 organization said in a statement. “These journalists have been steadfastly reporting from northern Gaza, with Al Jazeera being the sole international media presence documenting the unfolding humanitarian crisis resulting from Israel’s siege and bombardment of civilian populations.”

The targeting of journalists in north Gaza is especially alarming, as they provide some of the world’s only glimpses into Israel’s horrific siege.

Even amid the past year of genocide, Palestinians have said that Israel’s current campaign in north Gaza is the worst they’ve seen, as Israel executes families after ordering them to evacuate; rounds up people for slaughter or mass arrest; and deprives the entire population of food, water, and any form of medical intervention that could save their lives. Palestinians say that much of the horrors are not even being broadcast to the world because of communications blackouts and Israel’s killings of journalists.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the threat, also noting Israel’s post-mortem accusation against al-Ghoul.

“Israel has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence,” the group said.

We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.

As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.

Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.

As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.

At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.

Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.

You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.