To mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on 2 November, ARTICLE 19 calls for an end to the persistent pattern of impunity for crimes committed against journalists in Palestine and Lebanon, including at least 134 killings to date. International humanitarian law is clear: journalists are not a target. We urge international courts and authorities using accountability mechanisms to investigate crimes and human rights violations committed since 7 October 2023 to prioritise crimes against journalists in their investigations – crimes that have severely hindered the documentation of international law violations in both countries. We also urge international courts and accountability mechanisms to acknowledge that attacks against journalists play a significant role in enabling atrocities in these armed conflicts.
One year after Israel declared war on Gaza following Hamas’ attacks on 7 October, journalists continue to be targeted at alarming rates in Palestine, both in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and in Lebanon. This period marks one of the deadliest for journalists in recent history. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 134 journalists and media workers, of which 126 were Palestinian and six Lebanese, have been killed, while many others have faced arrests, assaults, threats, and cyberattacks in the context of this war. Alarming reports indicate that Israel may have targeted journalists deliberately in both Gaza and Lebanon, raising serious concerns that this is a deliberate strategy used by Israel to suppress and target critical reporting of the conflict and potential documentation of international law violations.
We reiterate what we have repeated far too often since 7 October 2023: Journalists are civilians. Targeting them is a war crime. In this context, we raise the alarm regarding Israeli authorities’ pattern of calling into question the civilian status of journalists – and with that their immunity from attacks – in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly accused them of being members of militant groups, most recently following an attack that killed three journalists on 25 October. It is important to be clear: journalists only lose immunity from attack if and for as long as they take direct part in hostilities. The threshold under international humanitarian law for this is extremely high and not met through reporting activities, even where these are deemed to support the war efforts of the adversary conflict party or where reporting is labelled as extremist or propagandist. The Committee to Protect Journalists highlighted that Israel had made repeated claims that journalists were part of an armed group without providing credible evidence. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, journalists are civilians who must enjoy immunity from attacks. They cannot and must not be targeted.
Accountability for crimes against Palestinian and Lebanese journalists is vital to prevent the repetition of these abuses in this and other armed conflicts. In our commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (IDEI), we remind Israel of its obligations to conduct prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigations into all killings of journalists. Instead, Israel has fostered a culture of impunity for violence against journalists and media workers in Palestine, and this began long before 7 October 2023. With regard to international accountability mechanisms, over the past year, press freedom organisations submitted several complaints to the International Criminal Court (ICC) calling for investigations into crimes committed against Palestinian journalists. We urge the ICC to prioritise these cases.
In addition, we urge courts and accountability mechanisms used to investigate human rights violations and crimes committed since 7 October – including the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICC and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel – to consider how the killing of journalists and Israel’s severe freedom of expression violations enables the opaque commission of atrocities during this conflict.
As foreign journalists continue to be denied access to the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists and media workers in Gaza are now the sole reporters informing the public about what is happening in the war on Gaza and collecting critical evidence of potential war crimes and human rights violations. As the conflict has now intensified in Lebanon, we must also raise the alarm about the protection of Lebanese journalists. Recent reports indicate that potential targeted attacks on journalists continue in South Lebanon, a year since Israeli shells killed a Reuters journalist and injured six others.
The ongoing lack of accountability for crimes against journalists in both Palestine and Lebanon not only stifles voices on the ground and chills freedom of expression but also undermines critical advocacy efforts to end the war.
It is critical that the widespread crimes against journalists are not met with impunity. Third states or those with no direct involvement in the conflict also have a key role to play in demanding safety for journalists and making all possible efforts to ensure accountability for these crimes. The impact of inaction extends far beyond this conflict; if the international community fails to act, Israel’s treatment of journalists will continue to exacerbate the dangerous precedent already set for media coverage in future conflicts, putting journalists’ safety at even greater risk, now and in the years to come.
On this 2024 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, we recognise and acknowledge the vital work of journalists who have risked, and continue to risk, their lives covering the conflict from the frontlines in Gaza and Lebanon. ARTICLE 19 will continue demanding accountability for all crimes against journalists targeted for their work. ARTICLE 19 calls for:
- Israel to ensure the safety of all journalists, refrain from targeting them or media infrastructure in Gaza, grant foreign media full access to Gaza and promptly, effectively, independently, and impartially investigate all attacks on journalists in Palestine and Lebanon in line with the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death. This includes stopping its practice of labelling journalists as terrorists or members of armed groups without evidence, a practice aimed at endangering them and suppressing reporting on atrocities in Palestine and Lebanon.
- The International Criminal Court (ICC) to prioritise its investigation into the deliberate targeting and killing of journalists in Palestine and Lebanon.
- International courts and accountability mechanisms, including the ICC and the ICJ, to consider that Israel’s killing of journalists enables the commission of atrocities during this conflict.