Gaza – Saba:
The International Commission to Support Palestinians' Rights strongly condemned the massacre committed by Israeli enemy forces on the morning of Thursday, June 5, 2025.
An Israeli enemy aircraft targeted a journalists' tent inside the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, killing four journalists: Suleiman Hijaj and Ismail Badiah, who worked for Palestine Today channel; Samir Al-Rifai, correspondent for Shams News Agency; and Ahmad Qalja, cameraman for Al-Arabi channel. Journalist Emad Daloul was also severely injured.
In a statement received by the Yemeni News Agency (SABA), the Commission stated: "Targeting journalists and civilians inside Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital constitutes a compound war crime, as it occurred within a hospital protected under international humanitarian law—a law the Israeli enemy has reduced to mere ink on paper since the start of its genocidal war."
The statement added: "The Israeli enemy has persistently and deliberately targeted hospitals, journalists, civilians, and civilian infrastructure as part of its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza Strip for over 20 months."
The Commission reiterated its strong condemnation of Israeli crimes against journalists and denounced the Israeli enemy's refusal to allow foreign media access to Gaza, depriving its residents and the world of vital information.
"Attacking hospitals and journalists is a war crime aimed at erasing the truth, eliminating witnesses, and preventing media coverage that exposes the lies and atrocities of the Israeli occupation’s genocide and aggression in Gaza," the statement said.
It further emphasized: "These actions violate all international conventions and treaties, particularly the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and international humanitarian law, which guarantee general protection for civilians and civilian objects, as well as special protection for journalists, children, women, medical personnel, and hospitals."
The Commission called on the international community, the United Nations, civil society organizations, grassroots movements, the International and Arab Journalists' Unions, the Red Cross, and all concerned entities worldwide to uphold their responsibilities and take urgent action to halt the genocide and aggression, while ensuring international protection for journalists to continue their vital role in covering the ongoing crimes in Gaza.
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