SANEF condemns killing of journalists in Gaza, calls for end to attacks
PICTURE: Mohammed Mansour/handout
UPDATE: An Israeli air attack on a media tent in Gaza on 7 April 2025 has killed at least one journalist, Helmi al-Faqawi. The early morning bombing near the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis also wounded several other reporters. Quds News Network showed footage of journalists Hassan Eslaih and Ihab al-Bardini on hospital beds, the latter ‘struck by shrapnel in the head, which exited through his eye’
The South African National Editors’ Forum is deeply concerned about the devastating news that two more journalists have been killed in Gaza.
Palestine TV correspondent Mohammed Mansour was killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Khan Younis on 24 March 2025. This attack was reported on social media by 23-year-old Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat.
Just over an hour later, Shabat himself was killed in Beit Lahia when a drone strike targeted his car.
Their deaths bring the total number of journalists and media workers killed in Gaza since October 2023 to a staggering 208. To put this into historical context, 69 journalists were killed in World War 2, while 63 lost their lives during the Vietnam conflict
The current toll in Gaza is the highest recorded in any modern conflict, underscoring the extreme risks faced by journalists reporting from the region.
SANEF strongly condemns the targeting of journalists and media workers who risk their lives to provide accurate and impartial reporting. Journalists play a critical role in documenting the realities of war, holding power to account, and ensuring the world has access to credible information.
The continued attacks on media personnel are a blatant assault on press freedom and a gross violation of international humanitarian law
International humanitarian laws, including UN Security Council Resolution 2222/2015, stipulate that journalists, media professionals and associated personnel covering conflict situations must be protected as civilians.
We call on the international community, human rights organisations, and media advocacy groups to urgently intensify efforts to protect journalists working in conflict zones.
We urge the South African government and international bodies to uphold and defend the fundamental right to free and independent journalism.
- This statement was first published here
