Israel’s War on Journalists Must End in Gaza
PEN Norway strongly condemns the killing of Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, by Israeli forces in Gaza on Sunday.
Following al-Sharif’s death, the Israeli military said in a statement he was leading a Hamas cell and “advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and troops.” There have been concerns in the past regarding Israel’s tendency to make serious allegations about journalists without always providing credible evidence.
Such deliberate attacks on journalists are direct attacks on the truth, on freedom of expression, and on the public’s right to information.
PEN Norway urges Norwegian authorities to clearly and publicly condemn these killings and to demand an independent investigation.
“The killing of Anas al-Sharif and four other Al Jazeera staff members is a grotesque attack on press and on freedom of expression,” said PEN Norway’s Secretary General, Jørgen Frydnes.
Killing journalists for revealing the truth is a direct declaration of war against free speech, Frydnes added
“Killing journalists for revealing the truth is a direct declaration of war against free speech,” Frydnes added.
An Award-Winning Reporter
Anas al-Sharif, recipient of Amnesty International Australia’s 2024 Human Rights Defender award, had been reporting extensively from northern Gaza. Earlier this summer, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for his protection after he became the target of an Israeli smear campaign, something he himself believed was part of a buildup to his assassination.
“The danger to his life is now acute,” CPJ warned in July.
Now, he has been killed.
It is deeply troubling that the Israeli political leadership appears to view every Palestinian journalist as a potential target, Ann-Magrit Austenå
“It is deeply troubling that the Israeli political leadership appears to view every Palestinian journalist as a potential target,” PEN Norway’s Chair, Ann-Magrit Austenå told Norwegian Press Agency, NTB.
Austenå urges both Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and the Foreign Minister to call on Israeli authorities to provide evidence for such allegations.
RSF: ‘Soon, No One Left’
More than 200 journalists have been killed by Israel since October 2023, nearly 50 of them while on duty.
RSF has also warned of the devastating impact of Gaza’s hunger crisis on the already precarious situation for local journalists: “At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed,” RSF said in a statement in September 2024.
Norway Must Do More
PEN Norway urges Norway to use every political and diplomatic tool available to pressure Israel to permit local journalists who wish to leave and to allow international media into Gaza so the world knows what is happening.
PEN Norway Demands:
- Stop attacks on journalists and civilians
- Allow humanitarian aid into Gaza
- Open Gaza’s borders to international media
- Protect civilians and uphold international law
