Assassinations of journalists in Gaza Call to action

Join us on 26 August at 11:30 a.m. at Kunstberg/Mont des Arts in Brussels
On 10 August 2025, Anas al-Sharif, a prominent journalist with Al Jazeera, was killed by
an Israeli air strike outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Aged 28, he was one of six
journalists and media workers killed while in a tent reserved for the press, after a day
of reporting on the intensification of the bombings.

The Israeli army claimed responsibility for the attack, which was intended to silence the voices of Palestinian
journalists. This assassination comes in a context where, since the start of the war in
Gaza in October 2023, at least 181 Palestinian journalists, according to the
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), have lost their lives, making this conflict
the deadliest massacre in the modern history of journalism.

In many cases, these Palestinian journalists were killed while covering the conflict,
often while wearing vests clearly marked ‘PRESS’. The attacks on reporters illustrate a
deliberate strategy by the Israeli government to silence independent reporting, prevent
the documentation of crimes, and instill terror in journalistic work. This is not
‘collateral damage,’ but a deliberate attack on press freedom and the fundamental
right to bear witness to atrocities.

The Israeli government, controlled by a supremacist and militaristic far right, bears
moral and political responsibility for these killings. The repression of the press in Gaza
cannot be excused or minimised behind alleged imperatives of national security or the
fight against terrorism. These are journalists, civilians, who are deliberately targeted
and erased from history in an attempt to deprive the world of their testimonies and
images.

It is crucial to remember that the international press has been banned from Gaza since
the start of hostilities, forcing foreign media to work exclusively from local accounts
and images provided by Gazan journalists, civilians and humanitarian workers on the
ground, while only a few handpicked correspondents operate under the close
supervision of the Israeli army with strict military censorship, thus constituting a
serious violation of press freedom in the Palestinian territory under military occupation.
In response to this tragedy, journalists from the Belgian and international press
must organise a solidarity rally in Brussels. A public reading of the names of all the
journalists killed in Gaza will pay tribute to their courage, condemn their murder in
no uncertain terms and call for justice. It will take place on Tuesday 26 August at
11.30 a.m. at Kunstberg/Mont des Arts in Brussels.

This event will be an opportunity to affirm that silence, fear and censorship will not
prevail in the face of journalists’ commitment to truth and memory.
Today, journalists’ organisations – the VVJ and AJP, the EFJ, the IFJ, the SDJ-RTBF,
the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and API – are joining forces to show their
solidarity with Palestinian journalists and to condemn the killings committed by
the Israeli government.

No to impunity. The free press will not be silenced. This fight goes beyond Gaza: it
concerns all defenders of democracy, everywhere in the world.
Thierry Michel
Filmmaker and journalist
Thmichel52@gmail.com
Charlotte Michils
Vlaamse Vereniging van Journalisten (VVJ)
charlotte.michils@journalist.be
Martine Simonis
Association des Journalistes Professionnels (AJP)
martine@ajp.be
Ricardo Gutiérrez
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
ricardo@europeanjournalists.org
Anthony Bellanger
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
anthony.bellanger@ifj.org
Fabrice Gérard
RTBF Journalists’ Association (SDJ-RTBF)
gefa@rtbf.be
Yousef Khader Habache
Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate Europe Branch (PJS-Europe)
coord.europe@pjs.ps
Dafydd ab Iago
International Press Association (API-IPA)
president@api-ipa.org