US Journalists Protection Committee Condemns Israel Black Campaign Labels Journalists In Gaza Terrorist

JAKARTA - Israel has carried out a black campaign targeting journalists covering the real situation in Gaza, Palestine. Israel labels the journalists terrorists.

The New York-based Journalists Protection Committee or CPJ denounced Israel's black campaign against journalists on duty in Gaza as a gross act of Benjamin Netanyahu's Prime Ministerial Government (PM).

"Even before the start of the Israeli-Gaza war, CPJ had documented Israel's pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without providing credible evidence to support their claims," said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Wednesday, August 14, quoted by Arab News.

Carlos, who has a track record as a reporter, covered the situation in the US, Japan, Spain to the development of nuclear in North Korea (North Korea), said the black campaign endangered the safety of journalists covering the battlefield.

"The dirty campaign endangers journalists and erodes public confidence in the media. Israel must end this practice and allow independent international investigations into the assassination of journalists," he said.

Since Israel carried out aggression against Gaza in October 2023, the Israeli military has accused at least three journalists they killed of involvement in militant activities.

These allegations have come to the spotlight of the international community who have repeatedly questioned the credibility of the evidence provided by the Israeli military.

At the end of July 2024, Al Jazeera journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul and the new Rami Al-Refee cameraman were killed by the Israeli military, aka the IDF.

The IDF claims Al-Ghoul is an engineer in the Gaza Hamas Brigade and member of the Nukhba Hamas special forces. According to Al Jazeera's report, the IDF does not present evidence of mere accusations.

The CPJ and the Washington Post investigations highlighted the inconsistency in IDF claims against Al-Ghoul's murder. In fact, Al-Ghoul was detained by Israel and released in early March 2024. Until now, the IDF has not responded to this.

Previously, two other Al Jazeera journalists, Hamza Al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya, were killed in an Israeli attack in January 2024. The Israeli military claims that the two journalists operate drones or drones that threaten IDF soldiers.

However, the Washington Post investigation denied the Israeli military's accusations, stating that the two journalists had been questioned at Israel's security posts.

Even Dahdouh has been given permission to leave Gaza, a rare privilege cannot be given to a terrorist by Israel.

The conflict in Gaza has become a deadly scourge for journalists and media workers to cover the real situation.

According to CPJ, 113 journalists or media crews, mostly Palestinians, have been killed so far in coverage in Gaza. CPJ also said the actual number was likely more than recorded.