The press freedom organization condemns Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

CPJ says the Israeli military 'continues to act recklessly when it comes to killing journalists'.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned Israel's killing of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza last week as the Israeli army intensified its bombardment in the besieged area.

The United States-based organization said in a statement on Monday that the international community had failed to hold Israel accountable for its actions amid the growing number of deaths of journalists and civilians in Gaza.

“At least 95 journalists and media workers will have been killed worldwide by 2024,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.

“Israel is responsible for two-thirds of those deaths but continues to act recklessly when it comes to the killing of journalists and its attacks on the media.”

The comments came a day after Israeli forces killed Ahmed al-Louh, a 39-year-old Palestinian journalist who worked for Al Jazeera as a photographer, in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

In the past days, Israel also killed journalists Mohammed Balousha, Mohammed Jabr al-Qrinawi and Eman Shanti.

Hours before an Israeli air strike killed Shanti and her husband and children in Gaza City on Wednesday, a Palestinian journalist wrote on social media: “Is it possible that we are still alive?”

According to local health authorities, Israel has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza. It also leveled large parts of the enclave and prevented air sealing, leading to a deadly famine throughout the area.

United Nations experts and human rights organizations have accused Israel of carrying out the massacre in Gaza.

Since no foreign journalists are allowed to work in Gaza, Palestinian journalists have been the only witnesses to describe atrocities in a foreign country. And that, rights advocates argue, has put them in the shoes of an Israeli military that operates without regard to legal and ethical principles.

According to the Gaza Government Media Office, Israeli forces have killed 196 Palestinian media workers in Gaza since the war began last year. CPJ, which did not include other media workers in its list, puts the death toll at 133.

On Sunday, Al Jazeera condemned the killing of al-Louh, accusing Israel of carrying out “organized cold-blooded murders of journalists”.

Al-Louh was the latest of several Al Jazeera journalists killed by Israeli forces since the start of the war. He was killed in the first year another Al Jazeera cameraman, Samer Abudaqa, was killed in an Israeli attack.

Earlier this year, Israel also killed the network's journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman colleague Rami al-Rifi in a targeted attack.

The Israeli military has not denied targeting al-Louh and other Al Jazeera journalists. Instead, it tried to use a standard excuse to justify their killing – accusing them, without evidence, of being members of Palestinian armed groups, which the network strongly denied.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said al-Louh was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but did not provide evidence to support the allegations.

Israel also claimed that al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas and later released a document that appeared to be fabricated as evidence, which claimed that al-Ghould received a position in the Hamas military in 2007 – when he would have been 10 years old.

Since the outbreak of war in Gaza, Israel has alleged – largely without evidence – that its attacks on Palestinians are part of its campaign against Hamas.

The Israeli military also bombed schools, hospitals and civilian camps, saying it was targeting Hamas fighters.