UN rings alarm bells on the high number of journalist deaths in the Israel-Gaza war
- Two Al Jazeera reporters die in alleged Israeli strike on Sunday; Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 79 journalists have been killed since the war began
- UN calls for killings to be ‘thoroughly, independently investigated to ensure strict compliance with international law, and violations prosecuted’
Al Jazeera journalist Wael Dahdouh holds the hand of his son Hamza, who also worked for Al Jazeera and who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Photo: APA day after two Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza died in an alleged Israeli strike on their car, the UN voiced concern at the number of journalists killed in the war so far.
Al Jazeera on Sunday said two of its Palestinian journalists were killed in the southern city of Rafah, in what it claimed was an Israeli “targeted killing”.
“Very concerned by high death toll of media workers in Gaza,” the UN rights office said on X, formerly Twitter.
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“Killings of all journalists, including Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Abu Thuria in reported IDF strike on car must be thoroughly, independently investigated to ensure strict compliance with international law, and violations prosecuted,” it said.
Dahdouh and Thuria were killed while they were “on their way to carry out their duty” for Al Jazeera in the Gaza Strip, the network said.
A third freelance journalist, Hazem Rajab, was seriously injured.
Witnesses said two rockets were fired at the car – one hit the front of the vehicle and the other hit Dahdouh, who was sitting next to the driver.
Asked about the accusations of a targeted attack on journalists, Florencia Soto Nino, a deputy spokeswoman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York, said: “This is something that at the moment we cannot verify.
“But what we know is that many of them (journalists) have died and we have repeatedly called for their profession to be respected so that they are able to do it freely and in safety.”
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The Israeli army said that it had “struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat to IDF troops”, adding that it was “aware of the reports that during the strike, two other suspects who were in the same vehicle as the terrorist were also hit”.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 79 journalists and media professionals, the vast majority Palestinian, have been killed since the war began.