A funeral was held for 5 Al Jazeera journalists who have been focused by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Sunday night time, because the UN mentioned the killings have been a “grave breach of international law”.
Correspondents Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, digicam operators Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa, and their assistant Mohammed Noufal, died after a strike on a tent close to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
The Israeli navy defended the assault, claiming essentially the most outstanding of the group, Sharif, was the pinnacle of a Hamas terrorist cell and solely “posed as a journalist” – claims constantly denied by Sharif himself, Al Jazeera and the Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ).
A sixth journalist – a freelancer known as Mohammad al Khaldi – was additionally killed within the strike, medics on the Al Shifa Hospital informed Reuters.
Picture:
Mourners attend the funeral of the Al Jazeera journalists. Pic: Reuters
Al Jazeera known as the killing of its journalists a “targeted assassination” and described its workers as a number of the “last remaining voices within Gaza”.
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Al Jazeera workers members collect on the community’s studios, to recollect their colleagues. Pic: Reuters
“Al Jazeera Media Network condemns in the strongest terms the targeted assassination of its correspondents… by the Israeli occupation forces in yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom,” the broadcaster mentioned.
“This attack comes amid the catastrophic consequences of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, which has seen the relentless slaughter of civilians, forced starvation, and the obliteration of entire communities.
“The order to assassinate Anas Al-Sharif, one among Gaza’s bravest journalists, and his colleagues, is a determined try to silence the voices exposing the approaching seizure and occupation of Gaza.”
The United Nations (UN) secretary-general condemned the killing of the 5 journalists and known as for it to be investigated.
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Mourners carry the physique of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif.
Pic: Reuters
A spokesperson mentioned in a media briefing: “These latest killings highlight the extreme risks that journalists continue to face when covering this ongoing conflict.
“The secretary-general requires an impartial, neutral investigation into these newest killings.”
He added that “no less than” 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began.
The UN’s human rights office condemned the killings earlier on Monday, labelling the strike by Israel a “grave breach of worldwide humanitarian legislation”.
The warfare started on 7 October in 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed 1,200 folks, taking 251 hostages, in accordance with Israeli numbers.
Of the 50 hostages nonetheless in Gaza, Israeli authorities say 20 are nonetheless alive.
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Israel’s offensive has killed greater than 61,000 Palestinians, in accordance with well being officers in Hamas-run Gaza.
It comes as outstanding journalists throughout media organisations proceed to hitch requires entry to Gaza, which Israel has forbidden all through the warfare.
On Sunday, Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour mentioned Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ought to let the UN Safety Council into Gaza.
“Take journalists with you so that you can verify exactly what is happening in Gaza,” he mentioned.
