STATEMENT: NYGuild Executive Committee condemns violence against journalists in Gaza

Following Israel’s killing of five journalists in Gaza on Aug. 25, the NewsGuild of New York again condemns in the strongest possible terms the continued killing, harassment and intimidation of journalists in Gaza covering the Israel-Hamas war, and calls for an immediate halt to these practices.

The killed journalists worked for outlets including Reuters, The Associated Press and Al Jazeera. We are outraged that they were killed while at work at Nasser Hospital, a location protected by international law.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says that since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, 197 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon. The vast majority of them are Palestinian.

The NewsGuild-CWA, America’s largest union of journalists, has previously raised concerns about the staggering number of journalists killed in Israeli airstrikes, as has The NewsGuild of New York. This month, NewsGuild-CWA joined a coalition of press freedom groups in calling for an independent investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa, and their assistant Mohammed Noufal.

The NewsGuild of New York has also opposed limitations on press freedom in the war zone, including the suspension of an Associated Press video feed and the shutdown of Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel by the Israeli government.

The NewsGuild of New York supports the rights of journalists working around the world, and calls on the U.S. government to use its leverage to protect journalists working in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.

Threats to a free and fair press are threats to democracy and free societies. We stand with Reuters’ and the AP’s demand that Israeli officials provide a clear explanation for these strikes.