The killing of six Palestinian journalists on Sunday, including five from Al Jazeera, in an Israeli strike on Gaza City, has sparked a wave of condemnation from governments, international organisations, and press freedom groups.
Qatar
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said Israel’s deliberate targeting of journalists in Gaza “reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination, amid the inability of the international community and its laws to stop this tragedy.”
UK
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed grave concern over the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza.
“We are gravely concerned by the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza,” a spokesperson for Starmer told reporters.
Iran
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the Israeli attack as “an assassination in cold blood”.
He said Palestinians are being “massacred, starved to death, and targeted in Israeli-American “food traps”, urging immediate global action to halt the “harrowing genocide” and hold those responsible to account.
UN
The UN human rights office condemned what it called a “grave breach of international humanitarian law” by the Israeli military, noting that at least 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
It called on Israel to “respect and protect all civilians, including journalists” and urged “immediate, safe and unhindered access” to Gaza for media workers.
Gaza
Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israel is committing “a full-fledged war crime” aimed at “silencing the truth and concealing evidence of genocide” as part of its plan to occupy Gaza City.
The director of al-Shifa Hospital said Israel is preparing for a major massacre in Gaza without sound or image; that’s why they killed reporters.
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera Media Network strongly denounced the killing as a deliberate and premeditated assassination, squarely blaming the Israeli army and government for the attack.
It stressed that its Gaza correspondents had long been subjected to open incitement by senior Israeli officials.
Rights and media groups
Amnesty International condemned the "deliberate" killing of journalists by Israel, saying they were Gaza's eyes and voices.
"No conflict in modern history has seen a higher number of journalists killed than Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza," the human rights group said in a post on X.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was “appalled” by the killings.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor expressed its condemnation, reporting that its field team in northern Gaza said Israel used a drone strike to carry out the assassinations.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the "acknowledged murder by the Israeli army".
The German Journalists' Association (DJV) has strongly condemned the killing and called for an investigation into the circumstances of their deaths.
