International bodies, including the United Nations (UN), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have condemned the killings of four journalists in a targeted Israeli airstrike on a press tent in Gaza City on August 12.

Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of plans for major ground offensives on Gaza and al-Mawasi on August 10, the Israeli airstrikes recorded six fatalities, among them being Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal, alongside freelance journalists Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed al-Khaldi.

Though Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have denied deliberately targeting journalists, they claimed that the air strike targeted al-Sharif — whom they asserted to have “served as the head of a terrorist cell” in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and was responsible for “advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces.”

In an interview with Sky News on August 12, IDF spokesperson Naadav Shoshani stated that the military had classified “intelligence” proving that al-Sharif was “on Hamas’ payroll” alongside “supporting terror in his job as a journalist.”

Shoshani also claimed that international media organization Al Jazeera has been “spreading Hamas propaganda” while allegedly housing “terrorists functioning as journalists with prejudice.”

Following the airstrike, the Al Jazeera Media Network released a statement condemning the IDF’s “targeted assassination” of their journalists — calling onto the international community to halt the “ongoing genocide and end the deliberate targeting of journalists” as well. 

“This attack comes amid the catastrophic consequences of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, which has seen the relentless slaughter of civilians, forced starvation, and the obliteration of entire communities,” Al Jazeera asserted. “The order to assassinate Anas Al Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, and his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.”
They added that they hold the Israel occupation forces and government accountable for deliberately targeting their journalists.

“Al Jazeera Media Network calls on the international community and all relevant organisations to take decisive measures to halt this ongoing genocide and end the deliberate targeting of journalists. Al Jazeera emphasises that immunity for perpetrators and the lack of accountability embolden Israel’s actions and encourage further oppression against witnesses to the truth,” the international news outlet stated.

Allegations associating Al Jazeera’s journalists with Hamas were also strongly denied by the media network: in statements released on July 25 and August 1, the organization denounced the IDF’s “campaign of incitement”  against their reporters situated in the Gaza strip and the systematic targeting of journalists to silence independent reporting.

Statements condemning the killings were released by multiple international human rights and press organizations since August 11 — with the CPJ criticizing Israel’s “longstanding, documented pattern” of accusing journalists as terrorists without providing any credible proof.

“The Palestinian journalists in Gaza are the only witnesses and the only journalists on the ground who are able to report on what is happening. So by killing them, Israel is sending a very clear message that they want to hide the truth and they want to silence those witnesses,” Qudah added, referring to the imposed international media blockage in the Gaza Strip.

RSF had also urged the UN Security Council through a statement to “meet urgently on the basis of Resolution 2222 of 2015 on the protection of journalists in times of armed conflict in order to stop this carnage.”

The UN Human Rights Office further called the killings a “grave breach of international humanitarian law,” stressing that at least 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. However, as of writing, the UN Security Council has yet to issue a statement or motion on the matter.

Since the airstrike, protest vigils have been held worldwide denouncing the Palestinian genocide and the inhibition of international press coverage in Gaza. The College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) held a demonstration on August 13 in the University of the Philippines – Diliman (UPD) campus, calling the recent killings “a broader pattern of impunity and violence against media workers.”