RSF files another ICC complaint on Israel’s 'deliberate' killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has filed its second complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli war crimes against Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip.
The Paris-based press freedom group filed the lawsuit on Friday, asking the court in the Hague to investigate the deaths of seven Palestinian journalists who were killed in Gaza from October 22 to December 15.
The group said in a statement that according to the information it collected, “these journalists may have been deliberately targeted as journalists.”
“RSF has reasonable grounds to believe that the journalists named in this complaint were the victims of attacks amounting to war crimes,” the group said in a statement.
This is the second lawsuit the RSF filed with the court since Israel launched its war on Gaza on Oct.7. The first complaint was for the death of seven other journalists in Gaza.
The group says it has confirmed the deaths of 66 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since the initiation of the Israeli war against Gazans in early October.
RSF urged ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to investigate not only the recent deaths but all 66 Palestinian journalists martyred so far.
It emphasizes the importance of clarifying the crimes committed against journalists in the Palestinian territory and prosecuting those responsible.
Targeting journalists is considered a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also said on Thursday that 68 media workers have been martyred in the 10 weeks of fighting – 61 of them Palestinian, four Israeli and three Lebanese.
“More journalists have been killed in the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year.”
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