LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday called on Israeli authorities to guarantee a “complete” and “independent” investigation into the killing of five journalists in Gaza.
Israel struck Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and others.
Photojournalists Hossam Al-Masri, Mohammad Salama and Mariam Dagga, along with journalists Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmed Abu Aziz, died after an Israeli explosive drone targeted the medical complex.
“Israel’s initial report leaves many more questions than answers and does not explain why an Israeli tank fired on Reuters camera operator Hossam Al-Masri and the news agency’s visible, live-feed camera that had been filming from that location daily for several weeks,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.
“Nor does it explain why first responders — including other journalists — were targeted in an apparent so-called ‘double tap’ strike on the same location. The indiscriminate and disproportionate nature of the attack demand that this incident be investigated as an apparent war crime.”
