On the summary execution of two journalists by Israel

Al Jazeera Arabic Channel’s Palestinian correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifee were summarily executed in an Israeli missile attack on a car they were using in Al Shatei Camp near Gaza City, the latest victims in a horrific and unprecedented toll on journalists. The Israeli government has confirmed that it deliberately targeted the journalists.

Since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented at least 113 deaths, and, so far, has determined that at least three other journalists were directly targeted by Israeli forces. CPJ classifies these killings as murders. Another 350 reports of potential killings, injuries and arrests are being investigated.

UN experts have condemned all killings, threats and attacks on journalists and called on all parties to the conflict to protect them. States that supply weapons to Israel, including members of the Media Freedom Coalition, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, have a greater responsibility to ensure human rights are respected and that justice for war crimes is served.

We call on those states to take action to end the killings by stopping the flow of arms used to commit atrocities and to suspend trade agreements that contain legally binding obligations on Israel to respect human rights, including the right to life and to free expression. Journalists should not be targeted but will continue to be assassinated, by a state that has demonstrated an intention to do so, unless legal deterrents are enforced.