On August 6, 2024, a United Nations expert strongly condemned the killing of two Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza and called for the incident to be investigated as a potential war crime. The journalists, Ismail Al-Ghoul and Ramy El Rify, lost their lives in an airstrike conducted by the Israeli military on July 31, 2024.
Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, expressed her deep concern over the incident, stating that it adds to the already significant toll of media professionals who have lost their lives in the ongoing conflict. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that 2023 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that Al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas, specifically part of the elite Nukhba unit, and had participated in the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel. To support this assertion, the IDF released a document allegedly seized from Hamas computers. However, Al Jazeera vehemently rejected these claims, stating that Al-Ghoul had been employed by the network since November 2023 and worked solely as a journalist.
The controversy surrounding Al-Ghoul's status highlights the complex legal issues in international humanitarian law, particularly the concept of "direct participation in hostilities." The Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1949, protect civilians, including journalists, in war zones.
Khan emphasized that journalists are protected as civilians under international humanitarian law and that deliberately targeting them constitutes a war crime. She noted that this protected status is only forfeited if journalists directly participate in hostilities, adding that Israel had not provided concrete evidence of such participation.
The UN expert urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to swiftly investigate and prosecute the killings of journalists in Gaza as a war crime. The ICC, established in 2002 and based in The Hague, Netherlands, has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for international crimes, including war crimes.
This incident occurs against the backdrop of ongoing tensions in the region. The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007, and the October 7, 2023 attack was the deadliest single-day attack in Israel's history.
The call for an investigation into these killings aligns with previous efforts by the UN Human Rights Council, which has repeatedly urged inquiries into attacks on journalists in various conflicts. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) also regularly advocates for the safety of media professionals in conflict zones.
As the situation unfolds, the international community watches closely, with the protection of journalists and the pursuit of accountability remaining critical issues in this long-standing conflict.
"Given Israel's failure to heed earlier calls for accountability, I urge the International Criminal Court to move swiftly to prosecute the killings of journalists in Gaza as a war crime and call on the international community to urgently consider the use of international mechanisms to investigate crimes against journalists in Gaza."