Beirut, December 16, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly denounces the killings of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza during the past week and calls for the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks against the media.
“At least 95 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide in 2024,” CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in New York. “Israel is responsible for two thirds of those deaths and yet continues to act with total impunity when it comes to the killing of journalists and its attacks on the media. The international community has failed in its obligations to hold Israel accountable for its actions.”
- On December 15, Ahmed Al-Louh, a 39-year-old Palestinian journalist who freelanced with multiple outlets including Qatar-funded Al Jazeera, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat camp in Gaza city, on December 15, 2024, according to Al Jazeera and multiple news reports. Al Jazeera reported that Al-Louh was wearing a “Press” vest and helmet, considered the attack to be targeted. Al-Louh is the seventh Al Jazeera-affiliated journalist killed by Israel since the war began. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson for Arabic Media, Avichay Adraee, acknowledged the targeting of Al-Louh and accused him of being an Islamic Jihad militant in a post on X, but provided no proof for the allegation.
- On December 14, Mohammed Balousha, a 38-year-old Palestinian journalist and the reporter for the Emirati-owned, Dubai-based Al Mashhad Media was killed in a direct Israeli drone strike when he was returning from a medical checkup at the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood clinic in northern Gaza City, according to the outlet and multiple news reports. Al Mashhad TV said it considered the attack deliberate.
- On December 14, Mohammed Al Qrinawi, a Palestinian journalist and the editor at the local Snd news agency, was killed along with his wife and their three children, in an Israeli airstrike on Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, according to his outlet and multiple news reports.
- On December 11, Iman Al Shanti, a 36 year-old Palestinian journalist who was a host and producer for Al Aqsa Radio and a reporter for Al Jazeera’s AJ+ platform during the war, was killed with her family in an Israeli airstrike on the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza, according to multiple news reports.
At least 141 journalists have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war since October 7, 2023, CPJ has documented; 133 of them were Palestinians in Gaza. Journalists in northern Gaza are facing catastrophic conditions, saying ethnic cleansing is happening in a news void in northern Gaza.
CPJ emailed the IDF North America Media Desk of the IDF asking whether the IDF knew there were civilians in the areas that it bombed, and if journalists were targeted for their work. The IDF responded that it needed more time to investigate CPJ’s query but did not specify how much time would be required.