"This Press Vest Is What Global Institutions Preach About": Gaza Journalists Protest Over Deliberate Targeting By IDF
Journalists in Gaza are protesting. They have thrown their protective vests in protest after Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul was killed by Israel. His cameraman Rami al-Refee have also been killed. The journalists protest by saying that the ‘Press’ vest, the international community preach so much about, did nothing to protect their colleagues.
“This Press vest is the vest that global institutions preach about,” said Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif. “This vest did not protect my colleague Ismail. It did not protect any colleague.”
In a video footage shared by Al Jazeera, the journalists in the battle land was heard as saying, “this is the state of the journalists in Gaza”.
Read also: “We Are Waiting For Our Turn”: Palestinian Journalist From Gaza Rips Off His Protective Gear
Holding out the Press vest worn by Ismail, his colleague, Anas al-Sharif and other journalists in the region said, “It is covered in blood and parts of Ismail…this is the state of the journalists in Gaza, this is the state of the journalists. He went to cover news…he returned dead…martyred”.
Ismail’s brother asked the reporter, which world are you talking about. If one wearing a press vest, and is documenting the truth, and is a civilian, and everyone knows him, and he is in a car that’s clearly marked with a TV sign, and it is known everyone that this car belongs to Al Jazeera, what kind of world are we talking about? The world that wasn’t moved by massacres and hundreds of martyrs?
Israeli forces killed the journalists’ car in Shati refugee camp. While they were reporting near Ismail Haniyeh’s, the political head of Hamas who was assassinated in Iran yesterday, Gaza house.
Ismail was earlier detained by the Israeli forces while he was covering from Al Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Hind Khaudhary, another colleague of Ismail, reported teary eyed that Ismail’s car was deliberately targeted. She said they were killed while covering Haniyeh’s assassination. She posted on her X handle, “Guess what, I am supposed to report on the killing of my colleague and friend now”.
Guess what, I am supposed to report on the killing of my colleague and friend now
— Hind Khoudary (@Hind_Gaza) July 31, 2024
Anas posted, “Goodbye, my love, Goodbye, my friend, we will keep the covenant, carry the trust, and continue on your path after you”.
إلى اللقاء يا حبيبي
إلى اللقاء يا رفيقي
سنبقى على العهد ونحمل الأمانة ونستمر على دربك من بعدك#اسماعيل_الغول pic.twitter.com/Azqu1hQpzo— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) July 31, 2024
Ismail and Rami were wearing media vests and there were identifying signs on their car when they were attacked. They had last contacted their news desk 15 minutes before the strike.
During the call, they had reported a strike on a house near to where they were reporting and were told to leave immediately. They did, and were traveling to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital when they were killed.
According to preliminary figures by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 111 journalists and media workers are among those killed since the start of the war on October 7. The Gaza government media office has put the figure at 165 Palestinian journalists killed since the war began.
Read also: Al-Jazeera Journalist Freed After Israeli Force Took Him From Al-Shifa Hospital
Four of the Al Jazeera journalists were killed by the Israeli force. Samer Abudaqa, Al Jazeera Arabic journalist was killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, last December. Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, was also wounded in that attack. Dadouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson had been killed in an Israeli air raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp in October.
Hamza, Dahdouh’s son, who was also an Al Jazeera journalist was killed in January. He was killed in an Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis.
Before the war, Al Jazeera journalist correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by an Israeli soldier as she covered an Israeli raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank in May 2022.
“We do everything [to stay safe]. We wear our press jackets. We wear our helmets. We try not to go anywhere that is not safe. We try to go to places where we can maintain our security. But we have been targeted in normal places where normal citizens are. We’re trying to do everything, but at the same time, we want to report, we want to tell the world what’s going on”, said Khoudary, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
Read also: Israel’s War On Journalists And Media Workers
Like all of its other alleged war crimes, Tel Aviv has never once given an admission on unlawful killing of Palestinian civilians or journalists. Israeli government and army still maintain that they only target Hamas.
Foreign journalists are restricted from entering into Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, outside media personalities were not allowed into the costal enclave, which has been under the choke hold of Israel for decades. They were only allowed to enter through Israeli army embed, were the latter controls what media see. The journalists are not allowed to move around on their own.
Last month, an investigation conducted by The Guardian, UK based news outlet, said that certain Palestinian journalists were viewed as targets for the attack, by the occupation force.
Olivier Rafowicz, one of the senior Israeli officials told The Guardian that there is no difference in working for a media outlet affiliated with Hamas and being a fighter in the Qassam Brigades. He added that there is no difference between the political wing and military wing of Hamas.
The statement, which is considered as a slip of tongue of the official, prompted the IDF (Israel Defence Force) to release a correction and a retraction saying that the statement is not the army’s official standard.
A spokesperson reiterated that the Israeli military does not target media personnel: “Rafowicz erred as these comments mischaracterise [the Israeli military’s targeting policy]”.
