The Committee for the Safety of Journalists (KKJ) strongly condemns the Israeli military's continued premeditated killing of journalists in Gaza. The KKJ's stance was issued in response to the planned and flagrant murder of members of the Al Jazeera reporting team in Gaza.
On Sunday August 18, an Israeli missile hit a tent belonging to the Al Jazeera team which was located in front of the main gate to the Al Shifa Hospital and killed seven people, including influential journalist Anas Al Sharif who was still wearing a press vest at the time.
Besides Al Sharif, the other victims were Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, who had been actively covering the genocide for Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, Mohammed Al Khaldi, a journalist from the local media outlet Sahat, and Saad Jundiya, a Gaza resident who happened to be at the scene, also lost their lives in the attack.
The KKJ considers this attack to be a war crime and an integral part of Israel's genocide against the people of Gaza. The KKJ is calling for the perpetrators to be held accountable through the International Criminal Court (ICC), as evidenced by investigations by two credible institutions, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF).
The HRF and PCHR investigations revealed that the murder of Al Sharif and his colleagues was not an isolated incident, but a systematic effort of targeting Al Jazeera journalists.
There are at least three ways that Israel has attacked Al Sharif, namely labelling him as a terrorist without evidence, defaming him publicly to justify the murder, and ending his life in a planned attack.
The investigation results also identified the chain of command behind the killings. Eight military personnel were identified, including Israeli Defence Force (IDF) Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, Israeli Air Force Commander Major General Tomer Bar, Southern Region Commander Major General Yanov Asor, the former commander of Unit 8200 Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, the Commander of Unit 8200, General "A", the Commander of the Palmachim Air Base, the Commander of the "Black Snake" Squadron, and IDF spokesperson Colonel Avichay Adraee.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also responsible for pushing the strategy of killing journalists as part of the massacres in Gaza.
In light of the above facts, the KKJ urges the International Criminal Court prosecutors to:
1. Issue arrest warrants for military officials involved in the murder of Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues.
2. Add the murder of journalists to Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest warrant.
3. Include the more than 220 journalists who have been killed in the International Criminal Court's investigation.
About the Committee for the Safety of Journalists (KKJ)
The KKJ was declared in Jakarta on April 5, 2019. The committee consists of 10 press and civil society organizations, namely the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers), the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI), the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Indonesian Cyber Media Association (AMSI), the Independent Media Trade Union Federation (FSPMI), Amnesty International Indonesia, the Media and Creative Industries Trade Union for Democracy (SINDIKASI), the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) and the Indonesian Photojournalists Association (PFI).
Jakarta, Monday August 18,2025
Contact persons:
- Erick Tanjung, Coordinator, KKJ Indonesia
- Mustafa Layong, LBH Pers
- Nenden Sekar Arum, SAFEnet
- Nurina Safitri, Amnesty International Indonesia
Hotline: 08111137820
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Komite Keselamatan Jurnalis Mengutuk Keras Pembunuhan Berencana Terhadap Jurnalis di Gaza".]
