According to Amnesty International, USA, 248 brave and courageous journalists have been killed for documenting the atrocities in Gaza. Make no mistake: The deliberate targeting and killing of journalists by the Israeli Death Forces (IDF) constitutes war crimes under international humanitarian law.
No, those journalists are not members of Hamas as Israel frequently claims. That's a malicious lie. Israel's war minister's ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip remains in place because their entry would endanger Israeli soldiers.
However, two of the world’s leading news networks, CNN and the BBC, have revealed the inner workings of those outlets’ newsrooms from October 7 onward, alleging pro-Israel bias in coverage, systematic double standards, and frequent violations of journalistic principles. In several cases, they accused senior newsroom figures of failing to hold Israeli officials to account and of interfering in reporting to downplay Israeli atrocities. In one instance at CNN, false Israeli propaganda was put on air despite advance warnings from staff members. Source: Al Jazeera, October 5, 2024
Israel bans foreign journalists from entering Gaza for fear of reports that would exposes its war crimes and the collateral damage to innocent Gazans. This includes torture, shooting, and severe injuries to innocent Gazans assumed to be supporters of Hamas. Even Gazan fetuses are supporters of Hamas. All the horrors of killings and maiming of innocent Gazans, including babies and children, by some IDF soldiers is swept under the blood-soaked carpet of censorship. The ugly truth is Israel wants to ethnically cleansed Gazans in order to settle Gaza with illegal settlers and their messianic religious ilk supported by Smotrich and Ben Gvir to keep the war going. Concerns about the safety of foreign journalists as an excuse is total bullshit!
The only democracy in the Middle East has a long history of targeting Palestinian journalists. During the uprising’s decades ago, Israeli forces reportedly jailed 47 Palestinian reporters, temporarily banned eight local and regional newspapers, permanently revoked the licenses of two magazines, and closed four press service offices.
While reporting live on October 26, 2023, Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza received news that he lost his wife, daughter, son, and grandson. After burying his loved ones, he went on air the next day to report about the war.
Mariam Abu Dagga born 1992 – 25 August 2025) was a Palestinian visual journalist who worked for multiple agencies including the Associated Press and Independent Arabia. Dagga was one of the few female war correspondents working in Gaza when she was killed by Israeli forces at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis according to Wakapedia. Prior to her death, Dagga produced "harrowing" images of the Gaza war and won an Associated Press award for her photojournalism.
On 10 August 2025, the IDF conducted another targeted airstrike on a tent designated for journalists near the main gate of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza where Al-Sharif and his colleagues were sheltering. The attack killed seven people, including Al-Sharif; Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh; and Al Jazeera cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, who is Al-Sharif's nephew. Once again, the Israeli Death Forces continue to internationally kill Palestinian journalists with impunity.
That was not the end of his misfortune. On December 15, of the same year, he was the subject of targeted assassination by the IOF. Dahdouh was wounded by an Israeli air strike as he was reporting live. His cameraman Same Abu Dagga was seriously injured and bled to the death because the IOF prevented a Palestinian ambulance from reaching him and Dahdouh miraculously survived with minor injury.
The attack was widely condemned by Al Jazeera, press freedom organizations, and Palestinian authorities as a deliberate assault on journalists while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed Al-Sharif was a Hamas operative – an allegation rejected by Al Jazeera and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) including Al-Sharif's nephew. As the saying goes, "Fist swim, birds fly and Israelis lie."
These journalists are the eyes and the ears of the whole world, and they must be protected. Israel is desperate to hide its war crimes in order to salve its ruined image. That stands the reason why Israel is targeting Palestinian journalists in Gaza and the murder of all those journalists must absolutely be investigated and those responsible must be held accountable.
https://apnews.com/article/mariam-dagga-journalists-killed-gaza-c751959d...
Mariam Dagga, a freelance journalist who freelanced for The Associated Press and other news organizations and produced harrowing images of the war in Gaza, was killed by an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza. She was 33.
Mahmoud El-Youseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He writes on U.S. foreign policy, Middle East affairs, and justice. Email: elyousseph6@yahoo.com
