ICSPR Sends Urgent Briefing Memo to International Organizations on Israeli Violations Against Journalists in Gaza

Date: April 11, 2025

Press Release

ICSPR Sends Urgent Briefing Memo to International Organizations on Israeli Violations Against Journalists in Gaza

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) has sent an urgent briefing memo to several relevant international bodies to inform them of the grave violations being committed by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian journalists, in the context of the ongoing genocide that has persisted for over 17 months in the Gaza Strip.

ICSPR addressed this urgent briefing to the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Special Envoy, the President of the Human Rights Council, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The aim is to urge these entities to take immediate action to stop the crimes committed against journalists and to ensure the protection of civilians in Gaza.

In its memo, ICSPR affirmed that the renewed Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since the early hours of Tuesday, March 18, 2025 — a clear and blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement — has resulted in an additional 830 martyrs and 1,787 wounded, bringing the total number of victims since October 7, 2023, to more than 65,000 martyrs and missing persons, including 211 journalists, in addition to around 112,000 wounded.

ICSPR emphasized that Israeli forces continue their deliberate targeting of journalists to silence witnesses to the crimes being committed in Gaza, confirming the intentional nature of this targeting as part and parcel of the ongoing genocide. On Monday, March 24, 2025, Israeli forces killed journalist Mohammed Mansour, a correspondent for Palestine Today channel, by targeting his home in Khan Yunis, leading to his martyrdom and the injury of his wife. On the same day, another airstrike targeted the vehicle of journalist Hussam Shabat, a freelance contributor to Al Jazeera, resulting in his martyrdom as well.

In another incident, Israeli forces targeted a group of humanitarian workers in the northern Al-Atatra area of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza in recent weeks, killing six civilians, including three journalists:

• Mahmoud Khaled Misbah Al-Bassous (20 years old), a freelance drone photographer working with Anadolu Agency,

• Bilal Mohammed Khalil Abu Matar (35 years old), a video editor,

• Mahmoud Yahya Rushdi Al-Sarraj (24 years old), a photojournalist.

With these crimes, the number of journalists killed since the beginning of the aggression in October 2023 has risen to 208 journalists, the highest figure in the world since records began in 1992. Among the martyrs are 13 female journalists. The majority were killed in airstrikes, while others were shot by Israeli snipers or died when their homes were bombed along with their family members. Around 185 journalists have also been injured in various circumstances throughout the conflict.

In a related context, ICSPR documented the continued implementation of arbitrary arrest campaigns by the Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian journalists. Since October 7, 2023, about 38 journalists have been detained in Israeli prisons, enduring harsh and uncertain detention conditions without clear charges or fair trials, and facing torture and ill-treatment, in blatant violation of international law.

ICSPR stressed that these crimes represent a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, especially Article 79 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, which states that “journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians” and must be afforded full legal protection. These assaults also violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the occupying power is a party, and constitute a breach of Article 8 of the Rome Statute, which includes the deliberate killing of journalists as a war crime. Additionally, these attacks infringe on the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press as guaranteed under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In conclusion, ICSPR called on the international bodies addressed in the memo to take immediate and effective action to halt the targeting of journalists, provide international protection for them, launch an international investigation into the crimes committed against them, and prosecute those responsible before the International Criminal Court. ICSPR also urged the imposition of deterrent international sanctions on the occupying state, considering it a necessary step to stop the crimes of ethnic cleansing and systematic violations against journalists and media institutions in the Gaza Strip.

ICSPR emphasized that time is running out, and any delay in international intervention could result in more victims. The organization called on the international community to act as a real force to ensure the Palestinian people’s right to a dignified life, just like other nations of the world.