In Palestine, journalism is extremely dangerous: ‘Yet I never think about stopping’

“Terrestrial,” is Hani Mahmoud, correspondent for the English -language news channel of Al Jazeera in Gaza. On Sunday evening, August 10, his colleagues were killed by a targeted Israeli drone attack on a journalist tent at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Six journalists were killed, including two reporters and two cameramen from Al Jazeera. The attack followed on months of threats by the Israeli army of the well-known reporter Anas Al-Sharif, who was killed.

Shortly before, Mahmoud had visited the team in the tent together with colleagues. “We jointly concluded that if this genocide ever stops, we will need a very long break,” he says by telephone from Gaza City. When an explosion sounded not long after, he knew immediately that it was at the tent, “because of the months of loss campaign against Al Jazeera and Anas al-Sharif” by the Israeli army.

Palestinian journalists in Gaza are systematically attacked by Israel, while foreign journalists from the area are banned. By Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Since October 7, 2023, at least 184 journalists have been killed in Gaza. According to the United Nations the OM at least 242 journalists.

The CPJ and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) stated dozens targeted to attack fixed. For example, there are fewer and fewer eyes in Gaza to beat the genocide.

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Special unity

For Tamer Almisshal, presenter of the Arabis -language channel of Al Jazeera, it is clear that Israel killed the journalists’ to prevent his crimes in Gaza from being documented and to hide the genocide that we witness are in Gaza, ”he says by telephone from Doha.

Almisshal manages the local team of the Arab channel in Gaza. He lists the names of Al Jazeera journalists who have previously been killed: Samer Abu Daqqa, Ahmed Al-Louh, Hamza Dahdouh, Ismail al-Goul, Hosam Shabat. Just like the Sunday evening, the latter was threatened by the Israeli army since October 2024, which described him as “Hamas terrorist.”

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This week, the CPJ spoke of a “long -term pattern” in the Israeli army “of unfounded claims that many of the journalists who deliberately killed it in Gaza were terrorists.”

The journalistic platform +972 Magazine of Israeli and Palestinian journalists wrote this week That a special unit of the army, which focuses on improving Israel’s image in international media, also has the task of identifying “Journalists in Gaza that it could portray as undercover agents of Hamas, in an attempt to defeat the growing worldwide indignation about the killing of reporters by Israel.”

Al Jazeera continues his reporting despite the attacks. “We refuse to be silent,” says Almisshal. The responsibility for the deadly dangers, he emphasizes, is not with the channel, but with Israel, against which legal action takes. It is also, he says, to the international community to stand up for the protection of journalists.

The decision to continue the reporting in Gaza, says Almisshal, comes from the local reporters, all of whom come from Gaza and whose “professional evaluation and decisions” leans the channel. “We do as much as possible to support them, but that is often very difficult. With Anas Al-Sharif it took three months before we could give him a helmet.”

Correspondent Hani Mahmoud is also by no means planning to stop his reporting: “I am not going to wait for the international press to share our stories. We are able to report on our own raw reality. The Israeli army is the scared for that.”

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Target

Other journalists in Gaza with whom NRC spoke also describe a constant fear of becoming target: “We can become the news at any time,” says photographer Omar al-Qattaa (35), who works for the Agence France-Presse (AFP), by telephone. “Before the war, I thought journalists would have some protection. But we are all targets.” He says that the population is sometimes afraid to get close to journalists, especially when they wear a press vest.

Journalist Salem Al-Rayes, who works for the Arabic Media Al-Majalla and Al-Manassa, says that colleagues were attacked by Israel while they clearly had ‘TV’ or ‘press’ on their cars or clothing. He also continues to work. Prior to 2023, he has already defeated five wars in Gaza. The current one is different: he was forced displaced and his house in Gaza city was completely destroyed. Last year he could send his children to Cairo; He himself was left in Gaza.

“There are constant events to beat. Sometimes we work 48 hours in a row.” Israel repeatedly closed the supply of electricity, fuel and food. That is why he regularly stayed close to hospitals for electricity and internet.

Al-rayes says that some topics in Gaza are dangerous to defeat, such as the activities of armed resistance groups or local gangs that steal relief supplies. “We can get into trouble with local gangs or groups, which are not always known. There is fear and enormous psychological pressure during our work.”

Some journalists in Gaza have syndicate in Ramallah at the CPJ and the Palestinian journalists in Ramallah notification Made from intimidations and threats by Hamas security agents, partly anonymous for fear of reprisals.

Journalism in Palestine has become a profession of death

House arrest

Not only in Gaza, but also on the West Bank occupied by Israel and in East Jerusalem, journalists have been attacked for years. When in 2022 the Palestinian Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was shot by an Israeli soldier as she reported on a raid from the army in Jenin, that caused an international shock. After initial denial, Israel admitted that there was a “big chance” that an Israeli soldier had shot. In the meantime, the Israeli army openly acknowledges that the journalists are killing: last Sunday it immediately confirmed the attack on Al-Sharif in Gaza.

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Since October 7, 2023, in Gaza, on the West Bank and in Jerusalem, ninety Palestinian journalists have been arrested according to figures from the CPJ; 85 by Israel, and five by the Palestinian authority. According to the CPJ in 2024, Israel was the second Land in the world that has fixed most journalists. Twelve of them are held in “administrative detention” that can be endlessly extended without charging or process. In addition, various journalists from Gaza are held without trial at unknown locations, for an indefinite period.

Freelance journalist Lama Ghosheh, who has been working from East Jerusalem since 2014, was arrested three times because of her work: in 2017 and 2018, when she worked as a journalist for an NGO, and in 2022, on accusation of ‘incitement’ and ‘support for terror organizations’. A prison sentence, house arrest and community service were imposed on her successively.

“Journalism in Palestine has become a profession of death. Every time you go out the door to defeat an event, you know that there is a possibility that you will not return because you will either be picked up, or will be killed,” says Ghosheh. “My children, family and friends are all worried about the work I do. Yet I never think about stopping.”

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Mostafa Alkharouf (38), who works as a photographer in Israel and East Jerusalem for the Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency, says that it can be more difficult for a Palestinian journalist to obtain information or access from the Israeli authorities than for his Jewish-Israeli colleagues, by telephone. “For example, it is difficult to Ben Gurion airport [bij Tel Aviv] to come in to photograph there. “

He is also imposed on restrictions, especially in and around the old city in East Jerusalem: “Although there is no legislation for it, I am regularly told that I am not allowed to photograph the Al-AQSA mosque,” says Alkharouf. “When I photograph in East Jerusalem, the police can ask me all kinds of questions or ask for my identity card, as if they hear me. I have less freedom in my work.” On December 15, 2023, Alkharouf, while reporting just outside the old city, was beaten by Israeli agents.

To survive

Journalists in Gaza are also constantly surviving with their work. Last month, photographer Bashar Taleb, who had for AFP and NRC Works, his work was forced to put down by hunger because of the Israeli blockade of food aid. Al-Qattaa is also busy surviving: “Like everyone else in Gaza, I am displaced and I have to look for water and food for my children, wood to cook with and manners to charge my phone.”

Despite the constant threat, Al-Rayes feels a great responsibility to continue: “This war has led to a deeper sense of our work. A weight leans on our shoulders to document what is happening. But we have not seen the world stop the war, or Israeli military leaders calling for the Archipeled Bloodbaden later.”

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