Targeting of Gaza’s journalists continues: Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi killed in Israeli strike
An Israeli strike killed Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and photographer Rami al-Rifi on 31 July while they were on assignment in the north of Gaza. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expresses outrage over this latest attack and calls for increased international pressure on the Israeli government to immediately halt its forces’ massacre of journalists.
Al Jazeera journalists Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi were reporting live from the al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza city, shortly before an Israeli strike hit their car, killing them both. Footage published by their colleague Anas al-Sharif shortly after the strike at around 4PM on 31 July shows both reporters killed inside an isolated white car in the middle of an empty street, visibly damaged by a direct strike. Al-Sharif said both reporters were found decapitated. They were wearing their press vests, according to RSF’s information.
A statement by the Al Jazeera Media Network called the killings a “targeted assassination” by Israeli forces and pledged to “pursue all legal actions to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes.” According to the media outlet, the two reporters had contacted their news desk 15 minutes before the deadly strike. During the call, they reported on another nearby attack and were advised to leave the area. Ismail al-Ghoul, one of Gaza’s most recognisable reporters, had already been arrested by Israeli forces in al-Shifa hospital on 18 March and released 12 hours later.
Al-Ghoul and al-Rifi were on assignment along with other reporters in the al-Shatti refugee camp, near the house of Hamas political leader Ismail Haneya. They were covering the aftermath of Haneya’s assassination in Iran the night before. The Israeli army did not comment on the strike that killed the two reporters, but constantly denies targeting journalists in Gaza. According to RSF’s information, however, more than 120 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in the strip since 7 October 2023. At least 29 of them have been killed in circumstances that point to intentional targeting, in violation of international law. RSF has filed three complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) since then, calling on the court to investigate these war crimes against journalists as a matter of urgent priority.
“We are appalled by this violent attack on two prominent Al Jazeera journalists – the latest incident in nearly 10 months of crimes against journalists in Gaza, where more than 120 journalists have now lost their lives. RSF urges the Israeli government to immediately commit to ending the violence against journalists that continues to be mercilessly committed by Israeli Defence Forces, constituting flagrant examples of war crimes. We also call for increased international pressure to ensure journalists still working in Gaza are able to safely do their jobs, and to secure justice for the far too many already killed. This massacre must stop now.
With the killing of al-Ghoul and al-Rifi, the number of Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza rises to five, all targeted by direct strikes according to RSF’s information. Journalist Hamza al-Dahdouh – the son of Wael al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza – and his colleague Moustafa Thuraya – were killed by a targeted Israeli strike at the start of January. A month later, Wael al-Dahdouh was himself injured by another targeted drone strike that killed Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa.
These deadly attacks against Al Jazeera personnel coincided with a steady defamation campaign by Israeli authorities, which accused Al Jazeera of being a “spokesperson for Hamas” that “threatens the Israeli military,” and which resulted in a temporary ban of the broadcaster enforced in Israel and Palestine. The ban was renewed for 45 days on 5 May, then for another 45 days on 9 June. RSF has repeatedly warned that the campaign against Al Jazeera, as well as the relentless conflation of journalism with “terrorism,” endangers reporters and threatens the right to information everywhere.
