Annual report accuses Israel of being the primary perpetrator of journalist deaths, ahead of cartels and organised crime groups
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has described the Israeli army as “the worst enemy of journalists” in its annual report published on Thursday, with nearly half of all reporter killings worldwide recorded in Gaza.
The French-based organisation said that of the 67 media professionals killed over the past year, 43 percent were killed by Israel, making the Palestinian territories the most dangerous place in the world for journalists.
According to RSF, the Israeli army is the primary perpetrator of journalist deaths, ahead of cartels and organised crime groups (24 percent) and the Russian army (four percent).
“Under Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the Israeli army has carried out a massacre – unprecedented in recent history – of the Palestinian press,” RSF said in its latest report.
“To justify its crimes, the Israeli military has mounted a global propaganda campaign to spread baseless accusations portraying Palestinian journalists as terrorists.”
During the tw0-year genocidal war on Gaza, Israel regularly made unfounded claims that it had targeted reporters for allegedly taking part in militant activities.
These Israeli attacks on media personnel – which have killed more than 250 journalists since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Media Office in Gaza – have been widely condemned by leading human rights organisations, experts and activists.
In one such case, a targeted Israeli strike killed Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif on 10 August, along with Al Jazeera journalists Mohammed Qreiqeh, Mohammed Noufal and Ibrahim Zaher, as well as freelance journalists Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed al-Khaldi.
Israel claimed that Sharif was a member of Hamas but provided no substantial evidence for the allegation, which Al Jazeera has strenuously denied.
In the same month, “double-tap” air strikes targeting Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed more than 20 people, including five journalists.
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/reporters-without-borders-israel-worst-enemy-journalists
