The international press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released a report on Tuesday, May 9, detailing how the Israeli armed forces have killed at least 20 journalists since 2001, without anyone ever being held accountable.
The report titled “Deadly Pattern” claims that the impunity with which journalists have been killed has “severely undermined the freedom of the press, leaving the rights of the journalists in precarity.” It was released ahead of the anniversary of the killing of Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli armed forces.
The Palestinian journalist was shot dead by an Israeli sniper last year on May 11 when she was covering the Israeli army’s raid on a refugee camp in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. One of her colleagues was also injured in the targeted killing—both of them were wearing gear clearly indicating that they were from the press.
Israel first tried to evade responsibility for her death by accusing Palestinians of killing her, but later admitted that its forces may have been responsible. However, Israel has since refused to investigate the killing, calling it accidental. No one has been charged for Akleh’s death, so far.
According to the CPJ, in the last 22 years, Israeli defense forces have killed at least 20 journalists, 18 of them Palestinians. All the killings took place inside the occupied Palestinian territories. The CPJ report also noted that at least 13 of them were killed when they could be clearly recognized as journalists. Despite occasional investigations, no one has ever been charged or held responsible for any of these killings.
“The killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and the failure of the army’s investigative process to hold anyone responsible is not a one-off event,” said CPJ Director of Special Projects Robert Mahoney. The report says that it “is part of a deadly, decades-long pattern,” which, Mahoney adds, is “designed to evade responsibility.”
The report recommends that Israel, the US, and the international community take actions to prevent such killings of journalists in the future and end the impunity of the Israeli armed forces.
