CIVICUS speaks with Carlos Martínez de la Serna, Program Director at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), about the vital role of journalists in armed conflicts, including the current war in Gaza, their protection under international humanitarian law and the challenges they face in doing their jobs.
CPJ is an independent nonprofit organisation that promotes press freedom worldwide. CPJ defends the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
Journalists work on a street in Rafah in southern Gaza on 11 December 2023. Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images
What’s the role of journalists in armed conflict, and how are they protected by international humanitarian law?
During times of conflict and volatility, it is all the more vital to have a free press that is able to report on events as they unfold. Despite grave dangers, journalists provide timely, factual – often life-saving – information in a sea of disinformation. A free press is the ultimate antidote to the fog of war.
It is crucial for all warring parties in the Israel-Gaza war to recognise that all journalists and media workers are civilians under international humanitarian law, and their rights must be respected and protected. Deliberately targeting journalists or media infrastructure constitutes possible war crimes.
Authorities on all sides of this conflict should publicly commit to recognising, respecting and protecting journalists as civilians. Media facilities and equipment must also be recognised and protected from attacks.
Have journalists in Gaza been deliberately targeted?
We’re in the middle of the war so establishing conclusively whether journalists have been deliberately targeted by the Israel Defence Forces is extremely challenging, with journalists continuously fleeing Gaza to exile and more journalists killed, arrested, injured or obstructed, which adds limitations to the already dire situation.
However, in the Israel-Gaza war, it does appear there is a pattern where journalists wearing press insignia have been killed while reporting. In the case of the 13 October attack in southern Lebanon, according to at least four separate reports Israel was responsible for the attack, which killed Issam Abdallah, a Reuters journalist, and wounded six other reporters. The crew was clearly visible as journalists.
CPJ has already classified three cases of journalist killings as murder: those of Issam Abdallah, Mustafa Thuraya and Hamza Al Dahdouh. CPJ is actively looking into other cases where there is evidence of possible targeting.
These findings echo CPJ’s May 2023 report, ‘Deadly Pattern’, which found that the majority of the 20 journalists killed — at least 13 — were clearly identified as members of the media or were inside vehicles with press insignia at the time of their deaths.
Why did the Israeli government shut down Al Jazeera, and what are the implications for press freedoms in a time of war?
On 1 April, CPJ reported that Israel’s parliament passed a law allowing the shutdown of a foreign channel’s broadcasts in Israel if the content was deemed to be a threat to the country’s security during the ongoing war. The shutdown took immediate effect.
The shuttering of Al Jazeera directly impacts on the public’s right to know what is happening on the ground amid the current war. A plurality of media voices is essential in order to hold power to account, especially in times of war. Prior to this law being ratified, CPJ urged Israel not to ban Al Jazeera and allow journalists to do their jobs.
What should be done to improve the protection of journalists in Gaza?
Authorities on all sides — military or civilian — should convey to all security forces, internally and publicly, that the use of lethal force against journalists — who are civilians performing their jobs — is prohibited, and make clear that forces must refrain from opening fire on individuals with press insignia or vehicles marked as press.
We reiterate our call for clear and transparent rules of engagement to avoid the unwarranted use of lethal force against the press. Media credentials and press insignia must be respected by all warring parties, who should abstain from obstruction, harassment, shooting or detaining journalists.
The USA, Germany and other close allies of Israel must ensure that the Israeli Defence Forces — which have a history of lethal violence against journalists with zero accountability — establish and follow rigorous rules of engagement that can avoid journalist killings and other harms.
It’s important to note that journalists in Gaza either lack the access or funds to obtain food, water and medical supplies, which have been affected by war-related inflation. This is where organisations like CPJ can step in to help, and ensure that journalists are able to continue their vital work during a deadly war.
Civic space in Palestine is rated ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.
Civic space in Israel is rated ‘obstructed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.
Get in touch with the Committee to Protect Journalists through its website or its Facebook and Instagram pages, and follow @pressfreedom and @cmdelaserna on Twitter.
