Targeting the Journalists’ Tent at Nasser Hospital Is a War Crime and Additional Evidence of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ Deliberate Killing and Injuring of Journalists
Date: April 7, 2025
Press Release
Targeting the Journalists’ Tent at Nasser Hospital Is a War Crime and Additional Evidence of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ Deliberate Killing and Injuring of Journalists
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns the ongoing deliberate targeting of journalists by the Israeli occupation forces, as well as the war crimes and acts of genocide committed against them in an attempt to prevent the coverage, documentation, and exposure of the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, now entering its 18th consecutive month.
According to ICSPR’s monitoring, at approximately 2:00 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2025, Israeli warplanes bombed a designated journalists’ tent inside Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, resulting in the martyrdom of journalist Helmi Al-Faqaawi, whose body was burned due to the bombing and the ensuing fire, and the death of young man Youssef Al-Khazindar. Additionally, nine journalists were injured: Hassan Islayeh, Ahmed Al-Agha, Mohammed Faiq, Ihab Al-Bardeeni, Mahmoud Awad, Ahmed Mansour, Ali Islayeh, and Majed Qudaih—suffering various injuries.
This crime is added to a long list of crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against journalists, constituting a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and a flagrant violation of all rules of international humanitarian law, particularly the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which provides special protection for journalists. It is also a grave breach of international human rights standards and UN resolutions, including those of the Security Council that guarantee protection for journalists during armed conflicts.
ICSPR reiterates its strong condemnation of the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting and killing of journalists, and the destruction of media institutions and equipment. The Commission calls for urgent and immediate action to stop the ongoing genocide and Israeli aggression, now in its 18th consecutive month, which has resulted in the killing or disappearance of nearly 65,000 Palestinians—including 211 journalists—injuring over 115,000, including more than 370 journalists, and the arrest of 40 others. Moreover, 186 media institutions have been destroyed.
ICSPR urges the United Nations and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to provide international protection for civilians, especially journalists, and to hold the perpetrators of international crimes accountable before the International Criminal Court and other judicial bodies. The Commission also calls for the imposition of boycotts and sanctions on the Israeli occupation state.
ICSPR further appeals to the International Federation of Journalists, media unions, journalistic associations, human rights institutions, and global advocates of justice and freedom to stand in solidarity with Palestinian journalists, and to pressure their governments and international and regional organizations to fulfill their moral, legal, and humanitarian responsibilities in providing international protection for journalists.
