In a bold move, "Reporters Without Borders" filed a new complaint at the International Criminal Court on Monday, accusing Israel of "committing war crimes against Palestinians," as stated by the non-governmental organization. The organization called on the court's prosecutor to "open an investigation into the crimes committed against at least nine Palestinian reporters between December 15, 2023, and May 20, 2024." "Reporters Without Borders" reported that the Israeli army killed more than one hundred journalists in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing conflict. The recent complaint adds eight new cases of Palestinian journalists killed and one reporter injured while performing their professional duties. The organization affirmed that it has "strong evidence to believe that some of these journalists are victims of intentional killings, while others faced deliberate attacks by the Israeli army against civilians."
Last January, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court indicated that crimes against journalists fall within the scope of his investigation into war crimes in Gaza. Antoine Bernard, a lawyer for "Reporters Without Borders," stated that "the killing of journalists violates the public's right to access information, a right that becomes more crucial during conflicts." According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, 107 journalists and media workers were killed during the war in Gaza. The complaint submitted by "Reporters Without Borders" particularly highlights the killing of Qatari Al Jazeera journalists Hamza Al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria when an airstrike targeted their vehicle in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli army at the time claimed that the journalists "were operating drones that posed an imminent threat to Israeli forces," labeling them as "terrorist agents," allegations that were denied by their families and the media outlet they worked for.
The war in Gaza erupted after an unprecedented attack by Hamas within Israeli territory on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to statistics from the French Press Agency based on official Israeli data. On the same day, Hamas took 252 individuals hostage and transported them to Gaza. After a ceasefire in November that led to the release of about one hundred of them, 121 hostages remain in the sector, of whom 37 have died, according to the Israeli army. The Israeli response was a comprehensive assault on the Palestinian territory, resulting in at least 35,984 deaths, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry affiliated with Hamas.
