Israel Killed Journalists to Ensure Nobody Saw Its Atrocities, UN Experts Warn

Israeli forces’ killing of four Al Jazeera journalists and two freelance journalists on Sunday is part of Israel’s “deliberate” campaign to eliminate and silence any potential witnesses to its “live-streamed genocide” in Gaza, especially ahead of its upcoming siege and ethnic cleansing of Gaza City, UN experts have warned.

In a statement released Tuesday, UN Special Rapporteur for the freedom of expression Irene Khan and Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese strongly condemned Israel’s targeted killing of the journalists.

“The killing of four journalists just as Israel announces its plan to take over Gaza City is no coincidence, but a deliberate attempt to silence those who would have exposed the IDF’s atrocities to the world,” the experts said.

One of the most stark elements of Israel’s genocide in Gaza has been the fact that it has continued despite abundant evidence posted online and recorded by news outlets. Numerous other analysts and rights groups have also said that Israel’s attacks on journalists makes clear that Israel is trying to ensure it can conduct its atrocities under total cover of darkness.

On Sunday, Israel struck a tent outside of al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, where journalists gathered to gain electrical and internet access. It killed six journalists, including four Al Jazeera staff. One of these journalists was famous Gaza reporter Anas Al-Sharif, who was one of the only journalists who remained in northern Gaza when Israel isolated the region from the rest of the Strip early on in the genocide. Palestinians hailed him as the “voice of Gaza.”

The killing comes as Israel is preparing a siege of Gaza City, the capital of the Strip. The plan for the takeover was approved by Israel’s security cabinet last week, and entails forcibly displacing 1 million Palestinians from Gaza City and placing them in “camps,” reports say.

Israel has killed over 270 journalists in Gaza since the beginning of the genocide, per a count by Al Jazeera. As of March, according to Costs of War, Israel had killed more journalists than the past seven major U.S.-involved wars combined, including World War I and World War II. Since that analysis, Israel has killed at least 40 more journalists in Gaza.

Just after Israel killed al-Sharif, Israeli forces targeted another well-known journalist, Motasem Ahmed Dalloul, on Monday. Dalloul was sheltering in a neighborhood near Gaza City with his family when their residence was targeted with artillery fire.

Dalloul reported as Israeli bombings and attacks drew closer to him, saying that he had nowhere else to go. Israel unleashed artillery fire on his residence, killing six women and children, Dalloul said, but he managed to escape with his children, he reported.

“It was a horrible massacre. We are still living the worst traumatic moments of the Israeli attack! We’re still in the streets without having anywhere to go,” he said.

Israel has attempted to justify its killings by accusing journalists of having affiliations with Hamas; in al-Sharif’s case, the Israeli military accused him of being a military leader.

These accusations are lies, supported by documents that are completely fabricated by Israeli forces, Palestinians have long said. In reality, Israel has long targeted journalists and tried to suppress journalism in the occupied Palestinian territories, killing journalists on the job and raiding and shutting down offices of news outlets in the region — even outlets friendly to them.

“It is outrageous that the Israeli army dares to first launch a campaign to smear Anas Al-Sharif as Hamas in order to discredit his reporting and then kill him and his colleagues for speaking the truth to the world,” the UN experts said. “These are acts of an arrogant army that believes itself to be impune, no matter the gravity of the crimes it commits. The impunity must end.”