US Urged to Condemn Israel’s ‘Summary Execution’ of Two Journalists
Original article by EDWARD CARVER republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
International outcry and a reporter’s pointed questions weren’t enough to get the State Department to denounce the killings of Al Jazeera journalists.
A Palestinian journalist on Thursday pressed a U.S. State Department spokesperson to characterize the killings of two Al Jazeera journalists by Israeli forces as summary execution.
The heated press briefing followed an airstrike on Wednesday that killed Al Jazeera reporter Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifee, and sparked global outrage. Israel’s military acknowledged targeting al-Ghoul, saying he was “eliminated” because he was a Hamas “terrorist,” an allegation the Qatar-based network said was “baseless.”
The death toll of Palestinian journalists and media workers now stands at least 108, including several intentionally targeted by Israel forces, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Said Arikat, the Washington bureau chief of Al-Quds, an Arabic-language newspaper based in Jerusalem, called the strike a “premeditated crime to kill a journalist for doing their job” and a “summary execution” in the press briefing, but State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel declined to affirm the characterizations or condemn the airstrike.
Al-Ghoul and al-Rifee were killed in northern Gaza after reporting from near the home of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader who was assassinated in Tehran earlier on Wednesday. They wore press vests and had signs on their vehicle identifying them as journalists; they had last contacted their news desk just 15 minutes before the strike, Al Jazeera reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) presented no evidence in a social media post claiming that al-Ghoul was a terrorist and Hamas operative. In March, al-Ghoul reported being stripped, handcuffed, and blindfolded during the course of a 12-hour detainment by Israeli forces; he had been covering an Israeli attack on al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Witnesses said Israeli forces severely beat al-Ghoul at the hospital before arresting him.
Anas al-Sharif, another Al Jazeera reporter in Gaza, was on site at a different hospital on Wednesday when his colleagues’ bodies were brought in, and he spoke about the role al-Ghoul had played in the outlet’s war coverage.
“Ismail was conveying the suffering of the displaced Palestinians and the suffering of the wounded and the massacres committed by the [Israeli] occupation against the innocent people in Gaza,” he told his own news outlet.
“The feeling—no words can describe what happened,” he added.
In protest of the killings, Palestinian journalists gathered to throw off their press vests and vowed to continue showing the suffering of Gazans through their work, despite the dangers they faced.
Condemnation of the killings of the two Al Jazeera journalists came not just from Gaza but all over the world.
CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement that she was “dismayed” by the killings and that journalists are civilians who should never be targeted.
Defending Rights & Dissent, a U.S.-based civil liberties nonprofit, also condemned the killing of al-Ghoul and said the reasons for it were clear.
“When you ‘eliminate’ journalists, it’s much easier to hide war crimes, it’s easier to spread lies, it’s easier to commit genocide,” Sue Udry, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.
In response to the killing, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that journalists “must be protected, and we decry attacks against them.”
William Schomburg, head of the ICRC’s sub-delegation in Gaza, said in a statement that his team had just met with al-Ghoul the previous week to get an update on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. “Journalists in all wars play a central role in highlighting the plight of civilians and in speaking for the voiceless,” Schomburg said.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF, in French), a Paris-based nonprofit, wrote in unequivocal terms about the need for Israel to stop killing journalists.
“RSF is deeply disturbed to see the Israel Defense Forces using social media to justify their targeted killing of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul,” the organization wrote on social media. “Journalists are not terrorists. This campaign of violence against media in Gaza must stop now.”
The Freedom of the Press Foundation also responded forcefully to the IDF’s claim about al-Ghoul.
“Documenting a war isn’t terrorism, it’s journalism,” the group wrote on social media. “If the IDF can prove al-Ghoul was working for Hamas’ military, it should do so immediately. If not, this looks like a flimsy excuse for intentionally murdering a journalist from an outlet Israel dislikes.”
Israeli forces have killed at seven journalists or media workers affiliated with Al Jazeera during the war, and Israel shut down the network’s local operations in May, citing a security threat, though critics said it was a case of censorship—an attempt to hide the brutality of the assault on Gaza.
In total, 113 journalists and media workers have died since the war began, including two Israelis and three Lebanese, according to CPJ, which says this has been the deadliest period for journalists anywhere in the world since it began collecting data in 1992.
The international outcry over all of the killings has ramped up pressure on the U.S.—which has backed the Israeli assault with weapons and diplomatic support— to condemn them, and Wednesday’s strike on al-Ghoul and al-Rifee has only increased that pressure. Still, Patel, the spokesperson, wouldn’t issue any such condemnation on Thursday.
Arikat also pressed Patel to call for the release of Palestinian journalists being held in Israeli detention centers without charges, but Patel didn’t do so.
Original article by EDWARD CARVER republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
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Lammy urged to condemn Israel for provoking wider war after killing of Hamas leader
FOREIGN SECRETARY David Lammy was urged to condemn Israel’s efforts to widen the war in the Middle East today following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh by an air strike in Iran.
Stop the War Coalition (StWC) said Haniyeh was the lead Hamas figure in the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza taking place in Qatar and Israel’s actions “could not have been more provocative.”
StWC vice-chairman Chris Nineham also criticised Labour for using the killing to delay its plans to cancel some arms sales to Israel.
He said: “Israel’s series of overnight attacks in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq were a dramatic and calculated attempt to spark a wider war in the Middle East.
“If you are serious about ceasefire negotiations you don’t assassinate the people you are negotiating with.
…
Netanyahu Accused of Sabotaging Cease-Fire Talks With Assassination of Hamas Leader
Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
“Netanyahu isn’t playing chicken, he wants to crash the car,” said one observer.
The political leader of Hamas was assassinated early Wednesday in what the group said was an Israeli attack on his residence in the Iranian capital of Tehran, which he was visiting to attend the inauguration of the country’s newly elected president.
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh, who became the head of Hamas’ political arm in 2017, sparked warnings that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing all he can to undermine cease-fire talks with the Palestinian group after they showed signs of progress in recent weeks.
“Netanyahu has systematically sabotaged cease-fire talks because ending the war will likely end his political career,” Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said following the assassination of Haniyeh, a key figure in the negotiations.
“The assassination buys Netanyahu several weeks, if not months, in which there will be no serious expectation of a cease-fire deal,” Parsi argued. “Thus, the war will continue, as will Netanyahu’s reign as prime minister.”
Haniyeh’s killing prompted fury from Iran, whose supreme leader vowed a “harsh response”—heightening the chances of a long-feared all-out war between Israel and Iran. Earlier this year, Israel killed several Iranian commanders in a strike on Tehran’s consulate in Syria’s capital, prompting Iran to retaliate with a drone attack.
Iranian lawmakers are expected to hold an emergency meeting about Haniyeh’s assassination later Wednesday. As of this writing, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has yet to comment on the killing.
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) top prosecutor, Karim Khan, was seeking an arrest warrant against Haniyeh for war crimes committed on October 7. Khan has also applied for an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?”
The suspected Israeli strike in Tehran on Wednesday was launched just hours after Israel’s military bombed the Lebanese capital of Beirut, killing several people—including two children—in retaliation for a deadly attack on the occupied Golan Heights. Israel claimed its attack on Beirut killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur, but subsequent reporting suggested he may have survived the strike.
News of Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran came days after top officials from Israel, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States met in Rome over the weekend to continue negotiating a possible deal to end Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.
The New York Times reported that “despite progress in recent weeks, the monthslong negotiations remain stalled over several critical issues, particularly the extent to which Israeli forces would remain in Gaza during a truce.”
“Earlier in July, Israel hardened its position on maintaining checkpoints along a strategic highway south of Gaza City, weeks after suggesting that it could compromise,” the Times added. “It was unclear on Sunday if Mr. Netanyahu had allowed negotiators to show greater flexibility on the matter during the talks. Mr. Netanyahu faces pressure from members of his right-wing government to stick to a tougher line. The length of the truce is also a source of dispute: Hamas wants a permanent truce, while Israel wants the option to resume fighting.”
Egypt said Haniyeh’s killing is a signal from Israel that it lacks “political will for deescalation,” according toAl Jazeera.
Qatar’s prime minister, meanwhile, wrote on social media: “Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?”
Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, warned that with the assassination of Haniyeh, “Netanyahu isn’t playing chicken, he wants to crash the car.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States was “not aware of or involved in” the assassination of Haniyeh.
Belén Fernández, a contributing editor at Jacobin, wrote in an op-ed for Al Jazeera that “Israel made its intention to continue and expand the war clear” by killing Haniyeh.
“By assassinating Haniyeh in Tehran, Israel is literally playing with fire,” Fernández wrote. “In order to derail cease-fire prospects and keep up the killing in Gaza, then, it seems Israel is going to end up with a whole lot more regional blood on its hands.”
This story has been updated to include new comment from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Original article by JAKE JOHNSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).