ON MONDAY, journalist Ibrahim Abu Ghazaleh was on his way to meet his friends and colleagues at Al-Baqa Cafe, an area of relative “normalcy” near the beach in Gaza City where civilians and journalists used to meet and work. Just before he stepped inside, a missile hit the building, killing his friend Ismail Abu Hatab and injuring another, alongside more than 20 other civilians.
Hatab was a Palestinian filmmaker, the founder of a TV production company, and “a great person,” Ghazaleh said. “He served his people and photographed everything in Gaza City, conveying the suffering through pictures.”
Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian journalists as Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continue the ongoing genocide of Gaza and the West Bank. Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli government has murdered close to 60,000 Palestinians, leaving an uncountable number vaporized, trapped under the rubble, dying of starvation, or shot while attempting to receive food. The bloodshed coincides with a ban on international media and a calculated extermination campaign to assassinate the limited number of people left to document and expose Israel’s atrocities.
“In Gaza, a camera is a threat,” Ghazaleh said. “When you witness the truth, you become a target.”
In Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli soldiers consistently threatenjournalists and their families. Before attacking, they warn reporters to cease reporting, pressuring them to abandon what is often the most urgent story of their lives. Last month, the Washington Post obtained audio of a threatening call from an Israeli intelligence operative to an Iranian general: “You have 12 hours to escape with your wife and child. Otherwise, you’re on our list right now.” The calls and messages journalists report receiving aren’t much different. Reporters are often killed when most identifiable — while wearing their press vests.
Ghazaleh is one of five Palestinian journalists targeted by Israeli military forces who spoke with The Intercept about how Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestinian people go hand in hand with the suppression of a free press. These reporters face a constant tension between competing urgencies: exposing the truth and protecting their personal safety. Two have since evacuated from Gaza with their families. Two are in north Gaza and continue reporting under the constant bombardment and manmade famine. One is reporting from the illegally occupied West Bank.
