How Impunity Fuels Israel's Attacks on Journalists in Gaza and Lebanon

The apparent targeted killing of three media workers during an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Friday has renewed calls for an end to impunity for Israel’s abuses.

Advocates say the rising death toll of journalists killed by the Israeli military in the spreading conflict reflects the failure of the international community — especially the United States, Israel’s biggest backer — to hold the country accountable.

The killing of media workers in Lebanon came days after Israel baselessly accused several Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza of membership in Palestinian armed groups, raising concerns about their safety.

“The events of the past few days are alarming and should serve as a wake-up call to the US government and other states that have the power to hold the Israeli government accountable and put an end to this violence,” said Rebecca Vincent, campaigner. director at Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Friday’s deadly attack in Lebanon targeted a complex housing several journalists and media workers – in an area far removed from fighting. There was no warning before the strike, which destroyed several buildings and left cars marked “press” under the rubble.

“This is a murder, after monitoring and tracking, with premeditation and planning, as there were 18 journalists present at the location representing seven media institutions,” Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary wrote on social media.

The killings add to one of the deadliest records for journalists covering conflict in years.

At least 128 journalists and media workers are among the tens of thousands of people Israel has killed in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon over the past year – the deadliest time for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began tracking the killings. more than four decades ago.

According to Palestinian officials, the death toll is even higher: 176 journalists have been killed in Gaza alone.

“CPJ is deeply outraged by yet another deadly Israeli airstrike on journalists, this time on a compound housing 18 press members in southern Lebanon,” CPJ program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said in a statement to Al Jazeera.

“The deliberate targeting of journalists is a war crime under international law. This attack must be independently investigated and the perpetrators must be held accountable.”

Labeling journalists as ‘terrorists’

Israeli officials have regularly criticized journalists killed in Gaza, accusing them without evidence of being members of Hamas and other groups.

This week, Israel accused six Al Jazeera journalists of being “agents” of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – raising fears it would pre-emptively justify their targeting. Al Jazeera has categorically rejected the Israeli accusations.

Israel has killed several Al Jazeera journalists and their relatives in Gaza since the war began, including the network’s correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Samer Abudaqa.

Critics accuse Israel – which has denied foreign reporters access to Gaza – of targeting journalists in the Palestinian territory to cover up the truth about its war crimes there.

CPJ has repeatedly documented Israel’s “pattern of smearing Palestinian journalists with baseless ‘terrorist’ labels after their killings.”

The latest threat against Al Jazeera journalists comes amid growing calls for Israel to allow foreign journalists into Gaza. Earlier this year, more than 70 media and civil society organizations signed an open letter calling on Israel to grant access to journalists, a demand recently demanded echoed by dozens of US lawmakers.

Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer and analyst, said Israel does not want the world to see what is happening in Gaza.

“On the one hand, they don’t allow international journalists in, and on the other hand, they kill the journalists who are there,” Buttu told Al Jazeera. “And then they vilify the journalists who are there and somehow label them as targets.”

Buttu emphasized that under international law, people can only be considered legitimate targets in war if they are combatants taking part in fighting. Accusing someone of having ties to an armed group, whether true or not, does not make them a legitimate target.

She added that Israel is “turning international law on its head” by labeling people as members of Hezbollah and Hamas to justify their killing.

Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at US-based rights group DAWN, said Israel’s accusations against Al Jazeera journalists are a “deliberate tactic to intimidate and harass those exposing ongoing ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in northern Gaza.” to silence.”

“This campaign against journalists reporting on the atrocities only further proves Israel’s desperation to cover up its war crimes and systematic genocide against Palestinians,” Jarrar added.

Impunity leads to impunity

Although Israel has targeted journalists at an unprecedented rate during the ongoing war, it has killed dozens more in the years before. But there were no consequences for these killings and this impunity has paved the way for the current escalation, analysts say.

Zaha Hassan, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that “the deadliest place to work for journalists today is where Israel is at war.”

The think tank published a video earlier this year, documenting the lives of Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Just before publication, one of the journalists featured in it, Sami Shehadeh, lost a leg in an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp, where he was filming.

Hassan said the lack of responsibility for the killing of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh – who was a US citizen – by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2022 was a “harbinger of things to come”.

Months after Abu Akleh’s killing, U.S. lawmakers and advocates called for an independent U.S. investigation into the incident.

Although American and Israeli media have reported that the US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting, US officials have never publicly confirmed this and no findings have been released. No one has been punished for Abu Akleh’s murder.

“If Shireen could be denied justice by her own government, how can we expect justice for Palestinian journalists in Gaza or for other journalists working in the killing fields of Palestine and Lebanon?” Hassan said.

“The U.S. State Department and the White House recognize the critical role journalists play in telling the truth. Unfortunately, they do not place the same emphasis or value on the truth or civilian life when the truth exposes Israeli war crimes or when the civilian target is a Palestinian or Arab journalist.”

The US often emphasizes the so-called “rules-based order” when criticizing the policies of Russia and China, but has maintained its unconditional support for Israel despite well-documented abuses, including the killings of journalists.

Washington provides at least $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel annually, and President Joe Biden has approved another $14 billion in aid to the U.S. ally to help finance the current war.

While the US and other countries have failed to curb Israel’s attacks on journalists, advocates have also criticized the world’s mainstream media for insufficient coverage and anger over Israeli attacks on the press.

“There are many people who are complicit in this. It is not only the governments that are certainly complicit, but it is also the fact that we have not heard any international outrage from other journalists,” said Buttu, a close friend of Abu Akleh.

“These Palestinian journalists, these Lebanese journalists, their lives are no less valuable than those of international journalists, and the fact that we have not seen any kind of outrage is unbelievable.”

But some alternative media have been outspoken about Israel’s attacks on journalists.

This week, US-based progressive publication Jewish Currents released a statement in support of the six Al Jazeera journalists being targeted by Israel.

“As a journalistic institution, we generally refrain from making statements or calling on others to take action, but our position as media workers compels us to stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Gaza,” the report said.

“The normalization of Israel’s blatant attacks on journalists has consequences for reporters around the world.”

The publication added that the targeting of Palestinian journalists “should be treated as a crisis for the international media.”