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LONDON: Journalists in Gaza say fears are mounting that they could be the next targets of Israeli strikes following a smear campaign that links media workers to Hamas.

Several journalists, primarily from Al Jazeera, have reported threats against them on Israeli media and say some have been identified as targets in military statements, prompting some to request anonymity for their safety.

Media watchdogs, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, warn that this Israeli tactic of labeling journalists as Hamas affiliates is designed to “manufacture consent” and justify deadly attacks on the press.

“By labelling journalists and media workers as Hamas operatives, it aimed to legitimize their murder. This is not only dangerous, it is a war crime unleashed through information warfare,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s Middle East and north Africa regional director.

Such accusations, often linked to critical reporting on Israeli military operations, reflect a broader pattern to reportedly justify strikes on the press.

“If Israel can kill its most visible reporters without consequence, it signals that no journalist or their family is safe. This sustained targeting of the press is a grave threat to press freedom. The world must act to stop this massacre.”

CPJ, Reporters Without Borders, and Al Jazeera have all expressed deep concern for journalists in Gaza who face unfounded allegations and are at imminent risk. The warnings come amid a deadly month for the media; nearly a dozen journalists have been killed in August alone, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif and Mariam Dagga of Independent Arabia.

Other victims include Moamen Aliwa, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Mohammed Noufal, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Al-Khaldi, Hossam Al-Masri, Mohammad Salama, Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmed Abu Aziz, all killed in Israeli strikes.

Rights groups say the Israeli military justified the killing of Al-Sharif and others by claiming they were Hamas operatives involved in the Oct. 7 attacks — claims widely dismissed by rights bodies and the international community as “fabricated evidence.”

A similar justification was offered in the strike on Nasser Medical Complex on Aug. 25, where Israel alleged militants used a camera to monitor Israeli forces, leading to further journalist and medic deaths in what was confirmed to be a “double tap” strike, a controversial military tactic designed to maximize casualties.

Israeli media outlet +972 reported the existence of a military “legitimization cell” tasked with portraying Gaza journalists as Hamas militants in an effort to “blunt growing global outrage over Israel’s killing of reporters,” a tactic journalists describe as an attempt to silence the only voices left in Gaza.

One Al Jazeera journalist, Ismail Al-Ghoul — who was killed in an Israeli military claimed targeted killing in July 2024, along with his cameraman, Rami Al-Rifi — was named in military documents as a Hamas operative, although documents cited as evidence were shown to contain inconsistencies, including the fact that he allegedly received military ranks when he was just 10 years old.

At least six Al Jazeera journalists have been targeted using this tactic; two — Al-Sharif and Hossam Shabat — have been killed, and another, Ismail Abu Omar, was critically wounded and evacuated from Gaza earlier this year. Three remain under threat, while others report ongoing social media campaigns against them.

“They are not allowing international journalists in and then are defaming local journalists and justifying ongoing assassinations,” said Tamer Almisshal, a senior presenter at Al Jazeera in Doha who has reported from Gaza for years and faced threats himself.

“What we are saying is very clear: They are trying to kill the only voices and eyes left in Gaza, and they are scaring the others not to work. They give the journalist one choice: If you work, you will be targeted.”

Watchdogs including CPJ, Amnesty International and the UN rapporteur on freedom of expression have warned that this pattern of falsely accusing journalists to justify deadly strikes is escalating.

The Israeli military declined to comment, rejecting accusations of war crimes, but several cases are being reviewed at the International Criminal Court, including the strike that killed Al-Sharif and his colleagues.

In November 2024, the International Court of Justice issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant as well as former Hamas commanders, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

One journalist in Gaza said: “We live in a state of constant anxiety and real fear that we might be next.”

They added that the targeting of journalists is no longer just exceptional but “a dangerous reality that threatens our lives and targets our message.”

“We call on the international community and journalist protection organizations to take urgent action to provide us with protection, hold those responsible for these crimes accountable, and guarantee our right to work freely and safely in accordance with international conventions,” the reporter said.

LONDON: Journalists in the UK rallied Wednesday in central London in solidarity with colleagues in Gaza, in the wake of two Israeli military strikes earlier this week that killed five journalists.
Members of Britain’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ) gathered outside the Downing Street office and residence of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, delivering a letter demanding accountability and stepped up UK action to protect media workers.
Attendees then held a vigil, reading aloud the names of more than 200 journalists that press watchdogs have counted as killed in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas and subsequent Israeli military response.
Monday’s strikes in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis killed at least 20 people, including the five reporters who worked for Al Jazeera, the Associated Press and Reuters, among other outlets.

The Israeli military said Tuesday its forces were targeting a camera operated by Hamas in the assault, which has triggered a wave of international condemnation.
It is the latest military action by Israel that has killed journalists, leading to accusations that they are being deliberately targeted.
The NUJ announced earlier this week that its members would join sister unions around the world in what it called “48 hours of solidarity action in support of journalists working in Gaza,” which started Tuesday.
“We’re here to show solidarity, and to show that we are horrified as fellow journalists about what’s happening,” said Deborah Hobson, a freelance journalist and NUJ member who helped organize the vigil and letter delivered to Starmer.
She called his center-left government’s response to the latest killings of journalists, as well as prior incidents, “extremely poor.”
“There’s nothing that says that the UK is horrified,” Hobson said.
“We have a prime minister who’s a human rights lawyer,” she added, referring to Starmer’s career prior to entering politics.
“We expect better from a Labor government in any case, because of its historical reputation in terms of justice, equality.”

The UK government has in recent months suspended arms export licenses to Israel for use in Gaza, suspended free trade talks with Israel and sanctioned two far-right Israeli ministers in protest at Israel’s conduct of the war.
Last week, it was one of 27 countries to call on Israel to allow “immediate independent foreign media access” into Gaza.
Mike Holderness, a writer and editor, said he had turned out “to honor and remember our colleagues, as well as demanding the strongest measures of protection” for journalists still working in Gaza and elsewhere.
“The vigil is to honor the memory of those who’ve given their lives to trying to report the truth.”