A War on Truth: The Assassination of Journalists in Gaza Is a War Crime

6 minutes read time.

In the blood-soaked landscape of the Gaza Strip, where the lines between civilian and combatant have been systematically and deliberately erased by the Israeli military, a new and horrifying threshold was crossed on Monday. An Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza did not just kill 19 people in a place that should be a sanctuary under international law; it was a calculated, two-stage attack designed to maximize carnage. It was a “double-tap” strike, a tactic of almost unimaginable cruelty, that deliberately targeted the rescue workers and journalists who, acting on the deepest instincts of their professions, rushed to the scene of the first explosion to help the wounded and document the horror. Among the dead were four journalists, including freelancers and contractors for the world’s most respected news organizations: The Associated Press, Reuters, and Al Jazeera.

This was not a tragic accident of war. It was a massacre, a brazen and undeniable war crime unfolding in the full view of the world. It is the terrifying escalation of what can only be described as a systematic campaign to hunt, target, and silence the last remaining witnesses to a humanitarian catastrophe. As you said, Charles, this absolutely cannot be tolerated. It is a war crime, and it must be treated as such.

The Anatomy of a War Crime: A Second Strike on the Saviors

The evidence of intent is as irrefutable as it is sickening. The first missile struck the fourth floor of Nasser Hospital. As is the instinct of all first responders, a group of civil defense workers in their bright orange vests and journalists in their press gear rushed to the site. Moments later, a second missile struck the exact same spot. A video from the news agency al-Ghad TV captured the final, horrifying moments, showing the rescuers and journalists raising their hands to shield themselves just before they were killed. Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters cameraman, was killed in the first strike; the live feed from his camera, which had been broadcasting to the world, simply went dark.

This “double-tap” tactic removes any plausible deniability. It is a method designed with a single, murderous purpose: to target those who come to help. It is a direct and flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. Specifically, Article 79 of Protocol I explicitly designates journalists in conflict zones as civilians and grants them the full protection afforded to non-combatants. Furthermore, the targeting of medical personnel and rescue workers is one of the gravest breaches of international humanitarian law. The victims were not combatants; they were the storytellers and the lifesavers. They were people like Mariam Dagga, a 33-year-old mother and AP freelancer whose last reports from that very hospital were on the doctors struggling to save starving children. She was killed while documenting one war crime, only to become the victim of another.

A Systematic Campaign to Silence the Truth

This attack cannot be viewed in isolation. It is the latest and most brazen act in what the Committee to Protect Journalists has called a “deliberate and systematic attempt to cover up Israel’s actions.” According to the CPJ, at least 192 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the war began—a staggering number that dwarfs the 18 killed in the war in Ukraine over the same period. This is not a statistical anomaly; it is a pattern of targeted assassination. Just two weeks ago, another Al Jazeera journalist, Anas al-Sharif, was killed along with his colleagues in a targeted strike on a media tent outside al-Shifa Hospital, an attack the Israeli military later admitted to carrying out, justifying it with the baseless and familiar smear that the journalist was a Hamas operative.

The Israeli government’s response to this latest atrocity has been a familiar and contemptuous silence, a refusal to even comment. Their broader strategy has been a cynical catch-22: bar international media from entering Gaza, forcing the world to rely on the bravery of local Palestinian journalists, and then systematically hunt and kill those very journalists while simultaneously attempting to discredit them as terrorist sympathizers. As Al Jazeera Media Network stated in a furious condemnation, this is a clear “intent to bury the truth” and an “open war against free media.”

An Indictment of Neglect: The World’s Shameful Silence

The most damning aspect of this ongoing massacre of the press is the shameful inaction of the international community. As you said, Charles, this cannot be tolerated, and yet, it is being tolerated. The world is sitting on its well-manicured hands, issuing toothless statements of “concern” while the bodies of journalists and children pile up. This is an indictment of neglect. The calls for real, punitive action are growing louder, but are being ignored by those with the power to act.

The response from those who see the horror up close is one of moral clarity. The UN’s special rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, has called for an immediate arms embargo and sanctions against Israel. Even within Israel, voices of dissent are rising. The Israeli political scientist Menachem Klein, in a stunning act of bravery, labeled the attack a “criminal operation” and stated that the “international community should consider sanctions on Israel.” He correctly diagnosed the root of the problem: a military culture that “dehumanizes everyone who lives inside Gaza.”

A Call to Punish Genocide

Let us be clear: the systematic targeting of journalists, the deliberate bombing of hospitals and rescue workers, and the intentional creation of a famine that has now been officially declared are not just acts of war; they are acts of genocide. The goal is not just to defeat Hamas; it is to make Gaza uninhabitable, to erase a people and their story from the earth. The world does not have to put up with this bullshit. The time for polite diplomacy and mealy-mouthed statements of concern is long past. There is an urgent need to not only save Palestine but to punish Israel for its crimes. Anything less is complicity. The international community, and particularly the United States, must be forced to confront the reality that its inaction and its continued military support are enabling these atrocities. A line has been crossed, and if the world does not act now to enforce the most basic laws of war, then those laws have no meaning at all.

Do acts like this infuriate you? Are you frustrated that war crimes continue? Do something. Join one of the nationwide protests a week from today, Monday, September 1. Click here to find an event near you!