Justice For All Statements on Targeted Killing of Al Jazeera Journalists in Gaza

This page has TWO statements: For the United States and for the United Nations

August 12, 2025

UNITED STATES:

August 12, 2025

Justice For All condemns Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh in Gaza alongside three more Al Jazeera colleagues. This was a targeted attack on a media tent for journalists opposite Al-Shifa Hospital. Al-Sharif was notably a recipient of Amnesty International’s Human Rights Defender Award. The targeted strike also claimed the lives of camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and assistant Moamen Aliwa.

Israel admitted responsibility and falsely claimed, without evidence, that al-Sharif was a “Hamas member.” Such post-mortem allegations constitute a well-documented pattern in which Israel labels slain journalists as “combatants.” According to the Watson Institute at Brown University, more journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023 than in both World Wars combined. Since October 7, 2023, the UN reports that 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza. The killing of Anas al-Sharif is also part of a broader pattern where journalists working for non-Western outlets receive less urgency and recognition from Western governments and media when they are targeted or killed. Justice For All condemns both the scale of loss and impunity as a severe assault on press freedom.

The United States is a member of the Media Freedom Coalition and has signed an agreement with UNESCO, expressing their commitment to ensuring that journalists can operate freely and safely worldwide. Despite global outrage, however, the United States’ silence on yesterday’s devastating event falls short on these obligations and continues to normalize Israeli impunity for attacks on the press, especially during an ongoing genocide.

We urge the United States to:

• Demand an independent, international investigation into the killing of Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues.

• Call on Israel to cease targeting journalists and to uphold its obligations under international law.

• Impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for carrying out attacks on journalists in Gaza and Occupied Palestine.

• Suspend all military exports to Israel

• Activate diplomatic influence through its association with and support of numerous international press freedom mechanisms to coordinate a collective state response to the killings of journalists in Gaza. This includes Media Freedom Coalition and UNESCO.

We urge the United States’ government to take concrete, unambiguous action against those who deliberately attack press freedoms.

August 12, 2025

UNITED NATIONS:

Justice For All condemns in the strongest terms Israel’s deliberate killing of Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa, and freelance photojournalist Mohammed Al-Khaldi in a targeted strike on a media tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. This attack is part of a systematic campaign to silence Palestinian journalists and suppress the truth about Israel’s violations of international law, including potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.  Since October 2023, the UN reports that 242 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in Palestine.

Justice For All demands urgent intervention from the UN Security Council, UN Human Rights Council, and international judicial bodies, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor. The ICC must continue and expand further its ongoing investigation into Palestine to include these deliberate attacks on journalists as war crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute. The targeting of media personnel violates Article 79 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, which grants journalists civilian protections. The UN Security Council must enforce Resolution 2222 (2015), which mandates the protection of journalists in conflict zones, and impose accountability measures for Israel’s repeated violations. Additionally, the UN Human Rights Council must establish an independent commission of inquiry into Israel’s systematic targeting of journalists and media workers, as urged by UN Special Rapporteurs. The international community must also halt arms transfers to Israel and impose targeted sanctions on officials responsible for these killings.

Imam Malik Mujahid, President of Justice For All, stated, “The killing of Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues is not an isolated incident, it is part of Israel’s calculated strategy to eliminate witnesses to its atrocities in Gaza. The ICC must act now to hold perpetrators accountable under the Rome Statute.” Imam Safet Catovic, Director of UN Operations for Justice For All, added, “The UN Security Council’s inaction has emboldened Israel to continue targeting journalists with impunity. The international community must enforce accountability before more lives are lost.”

UN officials and experts have also condemned the killings. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated through his spokesperson, “Journalists must be protected, not targeted. There must be an independent investigation into these killings.” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay declared, “Targeting journalists is unacceptable and violates international law. We demand accountability.” UN Special Rapporteurs further noted, “This is an attempt to silence reporting on genocide and starvation in Gaza. Israel’s smear campaign against journalists precedes their killings.”

Justice For All’s ICC Committee has previously submitted evidence to the ICC on Israel’s targeted killings of journalists in Gaza. The international community must act now to end Israel’s culture of impunity. Justice For All calls on the ICC, UNSC, and HRC to investigate these killings as war crimes, impose sanctions on responsible Israeli officials, and ensure unrestricted access for international media in Gaza.