Gaza: RSF condemns targeted Israeli strike that killed Al-Jazeera correspondent Hossam Shabat
The Israeli armed forces killed Al-Jazeera Gaza correspondent Hossam Shabat on 24 March in a targeted strike on his vehicle, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) information. Israel recently resumed its bombing of the Palestinian strip, ending the ceasefire that was in place. The Israeli army is already responsible for the deaths of nearly 200 journalists in 15 months, including at least 43 killed while working. RSF calls on the international community to urgently pressure the Israeli government to end the massacre of Palestinian journalists.
It was around 3:30 p.m. in Gaza on 24 March when an Israeli military drone targeted the vehicle carrying Al-Jazeera correspondent Hossam Shabat in the northern city of Beit Lahya. The 23-year-old reporter, one of the most famous faces on the Qatari channel since Israel launched its offensive following the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, was immediately thrown out of the vehicle, as shown by videos circulating on social media. Images of his lifeless body and blood-covered face were quickly posted online. The two press photographers who were also in the vehicle survived the bombing.
Hossam Shabat was one of six Palestinian journalists accused by the Israeli army in October 2024 of belonging to the armed branches of Hamas and conducting Islamic Jihad in Palestine — a recurring accusation already used against other Al-Jazeera journalists killed by the Israeli army, namely Ismail al-Ghoul, Hamza al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya. An RSF investigation found that the documents published by the Israeli military on Hossam Shabat severely lacked proof these journalists were affiliated with the military and in no way granted a licence to kill.
“Before an Israeli strike targeted Hossam Shabat's vehicle, killing one of Gaza's best-known journalists, RSF had warned that the Al Jazeera reporter and his colleagues were at high risk of assassination. The Israeli army’s accusations against Hossam Shabat in October 2024 can in no way justify his murder, as they are based on documents that in no way constitute that the journalist had any affiliation with the army. This all-too-familiar pattern fuels the unprecedented massacre of journalists happening in Gaza, which had slowed with the ceasefire in January. RSF calls on the international community to do everything in their power to pressure the Israeli authorities to instate protections for journalists in Gaza.
The media blackout strategy
This strike comes as Israel has stepped up its bombing campaign against the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, in violation of the ceasefire agreement reached with Hamas in January. Over the past 15 months, the Israeli army has killed nearly 200 journalists, at least 43 of whom were probably targeted or killed on duty, according to RSF.
Since 2023, RSF has lodged four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed against journalists by Israel and warned against Israel’s attempt to impose a “media blackout” on the territory. Even during the truce, the Israeli authorities refused to lift the blockade on Gaza to allow the international press and exiled Gazan journalists to return, and restrictions and violations against journalists in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the other Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation, have worsened.
