As the Israel–Gaza war continues, ARTICLE 19 joins multiple partners in calling on the Government of the United Kingdom to protect journalists and press freedom. ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), English PEN, Irish PEN, the National Union of Journalists, PEN International, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Scottish PEN, and Wales PEN Cymru have
written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, calling on him and his government to take urgent action to protect journalists, promote the conditions for safe and unrestricted reporting on the Israel–Gaza conflict, and to prevent the UK from potentially being associated with the commission of war crimes. According to CPJ, as of 12 February, at least 85 journalists and media workers – 78 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese – have been killed since 7 October last year. Four journalists were killed in Hamas’
assault on 7 October, and at least 81 journalists have been killed since, almost all of them by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). There is growing evidence that, in some cases, Israeli forces may have deliberately targeted journalists. Credible reports by human rights and media organisations indicate that the IDF strikes in southern Lebanon on 13 October that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured 6 other journalists from Reuters, Al Jazeera, and Agence France-Presse were unlawful and apparently deliberate. The IDF has also
acknowledged deliberately targeting a car in which journalists were travelling on 7 January, killing 2 journalists and seriously injuring a third. In at least two other cases, journalists reported receiving threats from Israeli officials and IDF officers before their family members were killed in Gaza. The targeted or indiscriminate killing of journalists, if committed deliberately or recklessly, is a war crime. RSF has already submitted two complaints to the International Criminal Court regarding suspected war crimes against journalists in Gaza since 7 October, and the Court has confirmed that crimes against journalists will be included in its investigation
into the situation in Palestine. Moreover, the UK Foreign Secretary has acknowledged he is worried that international law may have been broken by Israel during this conflict. However, to our knowledge, the British government has not yet issued a public statement regarding the need for further protection of journalists or calling on the IDF to ensure that their troops refrain from targeting journalists. This is of grave concern considering the UK is a crucial founding member of the Media Freedom Coalition and is a signatory to the Coalition’s ‘Statement on the safety of journalists and media workers in conflict’, which called for ‘all parties to the conflict to comply with
international law and guarantee the protection of journalists and media workers’. The UK has a long record of strong support for Israel, including military aid, and is clearly one of Israel’s most influential partners. As such, the UK will be judged on how it uses this influence to ensure that all parties to the conflict abide by international law. Integral to this is the protection of journalists, not only because journalists are civilians, but also because they play an indispensable role in documenting and reporting on war crimes and other human rights violations. ARTICLE 19 believes that the UK government can and
must do more to effectively pursue accountability for journalists killed in the hostilities and to protect and support local and international journalists covering them. The UK should use its considerable influence with the Israeli government to press them to ensure that journalists are able to safely document military operations and to shed light on their compliance with international humanitarian law. |
