Noureldein GhanemIn besieged Gaza, where a genocide is underway, Israel continues to obscure the truth and murder the messengers.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military assassinated two more Palestinian journalists – Rasmi Jihad Salem and Eman Al-Zamli — who are now part of the growing list of journalists killed in what is considered the world's deadliest conflict for media workers.
Palestinian officials say that Salem, who worked for the Manara Media Company, was killed by Israel in a strike at Abu al-Amin Street near al-Jalaa Square in Gaza City.
Additionally, north of Khan Younis city, Israel is said to have used a drone to assassinate journalist Al-Zamli when she was fetching drinking water near the Hamad City neighbourhood.
According to Al Jazeera's count, Israel has killed 274 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since October 2023 — excluding Salem and Al-Zamli — whose names it has published in a latest video.
Israel has barred international media from covering its genocide while conducting guided tours for journalists from allied countries.
News outlets instead rely largely on Palestinian journalists in Gaza — as well as residents — to show the world what is happening there. Israel often questions the affiliations of Palestinian journalists reporting the horrors of genocide but does not permit foreigners in.
Media analysts suggest that while Israel is attempting to implement a media blackout in Gaza, its efforts remain unchallenged by many Western media organisations and journalists who have failed to support their Palestinian colleagues.
Ian Williams, President of the Foreign Press Association (FPA), tells TRT World, "Israel would like a media blackout but is stuck because a large Black Hole on the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean is very obvious and hard to miss. Each barbarity by Israel erodes its vestigial credibility with the rest of the world."
Williams criticises foreign outlets, especially from Western countries, for not taking the plight of Palestinian journalists seriously, stating they shouldn't be trusted with "serious issues."
He says, "There can no longer be any apologies. Any reporter not outraged by this latest atrocity should be relegated to covering weddings, funerals and fashion, and not trusted with any serious issues.
And as for the plight of the journalists — their fate is inextricably bound with the people of Gaza."
'Netanyahu is amoral with shades of megalomania'
The genocide in Gaza is also ranked as the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history. Israel has killed more journalists in Gaza than in the US Civil War, both World Wars, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the wars in former Yugoslavia, and the post-9/11 Afghanistan war, combined.
In August, when Israel killed at least five journalists in twin missile strike on Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, it drew global outrage, prompting it to disseminate a false narrative that it had struck a camera positioned by Hamas.
The claim was quickly debunked by Reuters news agency, which stated that the camera belonged to its journalist. At least 20 people were killed by Israel. And among those were five journalists including Mohammad Salama, a cameraman for Al Jazeera, Hussam Al-Masri, who was a contractor for Reuters, Mariam Abu Dagga, who has worked with the Associated Press and other outlets throughout the genocide, and freelance journalists Moath Abu Taha and Ahmed Abu Aziz.
Weeks before this massacre, Israel assassinated one of Gaza's most popular journalists — Pulitzer Prize-winning Anas Al-Sharif — falsely claiming he was a member of the resistance group.
According to witnesses, Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, freelance cameraman Momen Aliwa, and freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi, along with Al-Sharif, were in a tent near the Al-Shifa Hospital entrance when Israel bombed and assassinated them.
"If these words reach you… Israel has succeeded in killing me," Al-Sharif said in a letter written on April 6, months before his assassination, that was published by his colleagues on his X account.
Williams of FPA says, "[Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu is amoral with shades of megalomania, but even he knows that following the assassination of Al-Sharif two weeks ago, this was going too far. But it sends a clear message to the media everywhere, not least to any journalists who took the risk to come into Gaza if Israel allowed them."
He adds, "It poses — to use one of the Israel lobby's favourite words — 'concerning' questions. Did they do it with foreknowledge of Netanyahu and the top brass who no longer worry about world reactions, or has Netanyahu's government lost all control of the fanatics and murderers in the IDF, the same he has of the state-armed settlers in the West Bank?"
Following the killings of journalists, he says, "once again, many of the Western media show a disturbing lack of audible outrage and a willingness to accept Israeli excuses."
'This is a pattern'
Sarah Qudah, director of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), highlights a pattern that Israel follows when targeting Palestinian journalists.
She tells TRT World that the Israeli campaign to silence journalists starts with smears, threats, and then ultimately their assassination.
"Just like we saw with Anas Al-Sharif, he was smeared, threatened, and then he was targeted and killed," she explains.
Al Jazeera hired Al-Sharif in December 2023 after his footage of Israeli strikes in Jabalya went viral. Israel groundlessly accused the professional cameraman of Hamas membership.
Qudah states that August has been among the deadliest months for journalists anywhere in the world.
"Since CPJ started documenting its history, the war in Gaza has been the deadliest for journalists. But August itself is among the deadliest, because in less than three weeks, 11 journalists were killed, several were wounded. This is a big number," Qudah says, adding the pattern is becoming a norm.
"These are not casualties, it's not a single incident. This is a pattern that we have been seeing, and this pattern we are afraid will become the norm," Qudah warns.
