UN Official Slams Israeli Targeting of Al Jazeera Journalist, Photographer in Gaza Last Week

UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Irene Khan, on Tuesday, condemned the crime of homicide committed by the Israeli occupation forces against Al Jazeera journalists in the Gaza Strip. She called for opening a probe into this incident as a war crime. In a statement, Irene Khan strongly condemned the Israeli deliberate targeting of journalists in Gaza, which actually surges the death toll among journalists and media practitioners in this war, emphasizing that the international humanitarian law guarantees protection for journalists as civilians. She stressed that intentionally targeting them is a war crime, underlining that such a protection would not drop, even if journalists directly engaged in combat operations, and Israel did not provide any physical evidence concerning this crime. Khan affirmed that due to the Israel's failure to respond to previous calls related to accountability, she urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to promptly act to open an investigation into kil ling journalists in Gaza as a war crime. Also, she called on the international community to urgently consider using international investigation mechanisms into crimes against journalists in Gaza. A journalist and TV photographer working with Al Jazeera channel were martyred in a drone attack launched by the Israeli occupation army on Jul.31. Source: Qatar News Agency