ICC to investigate Israel attacks on Gaza’s journalists

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced that it is investigating possible offences against Palestinian journalists in the midst of Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Paris-based NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) filed its second complaint with the ICC in December, accusing the Israeli regime of war crimes in connection with the deaths of journalists who are covering the war on Gaza.

Montaser Al-Sawaf, an Anadolu freelance cameraman who was killed in Israeli air strikes on 1 December, is among the journalists named in the complaint. Journalists Asem Al-Barsh of Al Najah radio, Bilal Jadallah of the Palestinian Press House, Rushdi Al Siraj, Hassouna Salim of Quds News Agency, Sari Mansour, a photo-journalist for Quds News, and Samer Abu Daqqa, an Al Jazeera correspondent, were also named.

According to RSF, Palestinian “journalists may have been deliberately targeted as journalists,” which is why it is describing these deaths as “intentional homicides of civilians.”

WATCH: Social media users condemn Israel’s constant targeting of journalists

Since 7 October, Israel has killed 111 Palestinian journalists in Gaza while continuing to prevent foreign press from entering the besieged enclave to report on the atrocities committed there.

“The office of prosecutor Karim Khan has assured the organisation that crimes against journalists are included in its investigation into Palestine,” RSF announced on Monday.

The court confirmed the statement yesterday, saying: “The ICC Office of the Prosecutor’s investigation into the situation in the State of Palestine concerns crimes committed within the Court’s jurisdiction since June 13, 2014.”

It comes after the Gaza Media Office denounced the killing of Palestinian journalists Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh, and Mustafa Thuraya, “in the strongest terms this heinous crime” committed by the “Israeli occupation army against journalists.”

Israel aims to “intimidate journalists in a failed attempt to obscure the truth and prevent media coverage,” the office added.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since 7 October. At least 23,084 Palestinians have since been killed and 58,926 others injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

READ: UN body calls for independent probe into Israel’s targeting of journalists