Third criminal complaint filed with ICC regarding journalists attacked and killed by Israeli forces

The war between Israel and Gaza has taken an unprecedented toll on journalists in the Gaza Strip since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders announced on May 27 that it had filed a third complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing it of “war crimes against journalists in the Gaza Strip,” where more than 100 media workers have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on the ICC to investigate the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for the killing of eight Palestinian journalists and the wounding of another between December 15 and May 20. By extension, this also applies to the more than 100 media workers killed during the 234-day Israeli assault on Gaza.

RSF said it had “sufficient grounds to believe that some of these journalists were deliberately killed and the others were the victims of targeted attacks by the Israeli army on civilians” and accused Israel of “wiping out the Palestinian media”.

“Impunity puts journalists at risk not only in Palestine but around the world,” Antoine Bernard, RSF’s head of advocacy and support, said in a statement. “Killing journalists is an attack on the public’s right to know, which is even more important in times of conflict. They must be held accountable and RSF will continue to work towards this goal in solidarity with reporters in Gaza.”

As of May 27, 2024, preliminary research by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that at least 107 journalists and media workers were among the more than 36,000 people killed since the war began, making this the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began collecting data in 1992.

Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks when attempting to cover the conflict during Israel’s ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, communications disruptions, supply shortages and widespread power outages. This has made it increasingly difficult to document the situation, and CPJ is investigating nearly 350 additional cases of possible killings, arrests and injuries.

“Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, journalists have paid the ultimate price for their reporting – their lives. Without protection, equipment, international presence, communications, or food and water, they continue to do their essential work to tell the world the truth,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ program director. “Every time a journalist is killed, injured, arrested or forced into exile, we lose pieces of the truth. Those responsible for these victims face two trials: one under international law and one before the merciless gaze of history.”

Journalists are civilians and are protected under international law. Deliberate attacks on civilians constitute a war crime. In May, the International Criminal Court announced that it would seek arrest warrants against Hamas and Israeli politicians for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

So far, CPJ has determined that at least three journalists have been targeted and killed by Israeli security forces. CPJ is classifying the killings as murders. However, details of at least 10 other cases that indicate possible targeted killings are still being investigated for confirmation.

As of May 27, 2024:

• The deaths of 107 journalists and media workers were confirmed: 102 Palestinians, two Israelis and three Lebanese.
• 32 journalists were injured.
• 2 journalists were reported missing.
• According to reports, 38 journalists were arrested.
• Numerous assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship and murders of family members.

CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists killed, missing, detained, injured or threatened, as well as damage to media offices and journalists’ homes.

In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to “take effective measures to prevent and ensure the destruction of evidence” of activities against Palestinians in Gaza that could be prosecuted under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Human rights groups say Israel has failed to comply with this order.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has repeatedly told the media that the army does not deliberately target journalists. In October, it also told agencies that it could not guarantee the safety of journalists. CPJ called for an end to the longstanding impunity for journalists killed by the IDF.

UN experts have expressed concern about the killing of journalists. In a February statement, they said they were “alarmed by the extraordinarily high number of journalists and media workers who have been killed, attacked, injured and detained in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, in recent months, in blatant disregard for international law.”