The International News Safety Institute (INSI) is appalled by the killing of five Al-Jazeera journalists and one freelancer in an Israeli airstrike on their tent near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, including correspondent Anas al-Sharif.
In most hostile environments, there are steps journalists can take to reduce risk — protective equipment, security training, careful planning. In this case, none of the usual safety measures we take to stay safe would have made any difference. When Israel targets journalists for assassination with devastating weapons, it is the deliberate silencing of witnesses, not collateral damage.
Since the war began less than two years ago, nearly 200 journalists have been killed — an unprecedented toll in modern conflict reporting. The scale of the loss is devastating and underscores the acute and deliberate danger faced by journalists in Gaza.
In a message prepared before his death, Anas al-Sharif wrote: “If my words appear, it means Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.” His voice — and those of Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa from Al Jazeera and freelancer Mohammed al-Khaldi — has now been extinguished. Their loss is not only to journalism, but to the world’s ability to understand this war.
We call on all governments, international bodies and media organisations to condemn these killings unequivocally, and to demand accountability for those who order and execute such attacks. There can be no press freedom, no truth and no justice if journalists are murdered for doing their jobs.
When state actors assassinate journalists, it is not simply a crime, it is an attack on the truth itself.
Image by AFP
