Category: 2. World

An outpouring of grief and condemnation has followed the Israeli assassination of five Al Jazeera staff in Gaza, including prominent correspondent Anas al-Sharif.

The drone attack late on Sunday hit a tent for journalists positioned outside the main gate of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, killing seven people. Among the dead were Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal.

Just hours earlier, al-Sharif, 28, had posted on X about Israel’s “intense, concentrated bombardment” on eastern and southern Gaza City. Known for his fearless reporting from northern Gaza, he had become one of the most recognisable voices documenting the ongoing Israeli genocide in the enclave.

Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned what it called a “targeted assassination” of its journalists.

Below are a few of the responses to the killing of Al Jazeera staff:

Palestine

The Palestinian mission to the United Nations accused Israel of “deliberately assassinating” al-Sharif and Qreiqeh, describing them as among the “last remaining journalists” in Gaza.

“They have systematically and dutifully exposed and documented Israel’s genocide and starvation,” the mission said on X. “As Israel continues to ethnically cleanse Gaza, its enemy remains the truth: the brave journalists exposing its heinous crimes.”

Iran

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei has called on the world to hold Israel to account after the killing of the five Al Jazeera staff.

“A press badge is no shield against genocidal war criminals who fear the world witnessing their atrocities,” said Baghaei, accusing Israel of assassinating the journalists “in cold blood”.

“Strong condemnation is the bare minimum for any decent human being, but the world must act immediately to stop this harrowing genocide and hold the criminals accountable,” he added.

“Indifference and inaction are complicity in Israel’s crimes.”

United Nations

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, offered condolences to “the Al Jazeera family” and called for an investigation.

“We have always been very clear in condemning all killings of journalists,” Dujarric said. “In Gaza, and everywhere, media workers should be able to carry out their work freely and without harassment, intimidation or fear of being targeted.”

Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned “in the strongest terms” the killing of its journalists in a targeted assassination by Israeli forces.

In a statement, the network said the Israeli military “admitted to their crimes” and deliberately directed the attack at the journalists’ location. It called the assassination “another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom”.

The strike came amid what Al Jazeera described as the “catastrophic consequences” of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, including mass civilian deaths, forced starvation, and the destruction of entire communities.

The network called the killing of al-Sharif, one of Gaza’s most prominent reporters, and his colleagues “a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza”.

Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says it is “appalled” by Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalists.

“Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said the CPJ’s regional director, Sara Qudah.

“Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable,” Qudah added.

Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the CPJ, recalled how Israel accused al-Sharif and others of being “terrorists” last October without evidence.

“We warned back then that this felt to us like a precursor to justify assassination,” she told Al Jazeera. “This is part of a pattern … going back decades, in which it kills journalists.”

Amnesty International

Amnesty International condemned the strike as a war crime under international law and remembered al-Sharif as a “brave and extraordinary” reporter.

In 2024, al-Sharif was awarded Amnesty International Australia’s Human Rights Defender Award for his resilience and commitment to press freedom.

“We at Amnesty International are devastated and heartbroken,” said Mohamed Duar, Amnesty International Australia’s spokesperson on the occupied Palestinian territory. “Anas dedicated his life to standing before the camera, exposing Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians, and documenting the truth so the world could bear witness.

“The courageous and brave journalists who have been reporting since the genocide began have been operating in the most dangerous conditions on Earth. At great risk to their lives, they have remained to show the world the war crimes being committed by Israel against almost two million Palestinian women, men and children,” he added.

National Press Club

Mike Balsamo, president of the US-based National Press Club, said the killing of journalists is “a loss felt far beyond one newsroom” and urged a “thorough and transparent” investigation.

“Journalists must be able to work without being targeted or killed,” Balsamo said. “All parties in conflict zones must honour their obligations under international law to protect reporters and ensure they can carry out their work safely.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned Israel’s killing of five Al Jazeera journalists and called on US and international media workers to “stand in solidarity” with their Palestinian colleagues.

“Israel’s ongoing campaign of targeted assassinations of Palestinian journalists is a war crime, plain and simple,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.

“The murder of these Al Jazeera journalists is not an accident or collateral damage – it is part of a consistent, documented policy of silencing media voices and hiding the truth of the genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza,” Awad said.

Since October 2023, Israel has killed 269 journalists in Gaza, in the deadliest conflict ever recorded for reporters.

Israel has assassinated Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif and four other staff in a targeted attack on a tent in Gaza City, taking the total number of journalists killed since October 7, 2023 to 269.

Correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa, and their assistant Mohammed Noufal were meeting in a media tent outside al-Shifa Hospital when they were targeted by a drone.

Two others were killed in the Sunday evening attack that has drawn condemnation.

Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned what it called a “targeted assassination” and called it “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom”.

“This attack comes amid the catastrophic consequences of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, which has seen the relentless slaughter of civilians, forced starvation, and the obliteration of entire communities,” the network said in a statement.

“The order to assassinate Anas Al Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, and his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says it is “appalled” by Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalists.

“Israel’s pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,” said the CPJ’s regional director, Sara Qudah.

“Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable,” Qudah added.

Last month the CPJ said it was gravely concerned for the safety of al-Sharif as he was being “targeted by an Israeli military smear campaign”.

Since Israel launched its war on the enclave in October 2023, it has routinely accused Palestinian journalists in Gaza of being Hamas members, as part of what rights groups say is an effort to discredit their reporting of Israeli abuses.

TEHRAN — The deputy head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog will visit Iran in a bid to rekindle soured ties, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister said Sunday.

There will be no inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities during the visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency scheduled for Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. The visit would be the first following Israel and Iran’s 12-day war in June, when some of its key nuclear facilities were struck.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 3 ordered the country to suspend its cooperation with the IAEA, after American and Israeli airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities. The decision will likely further limit inspectors’ ability to track Tehran’s program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.

“As long as we haven’t reached a new framework for cooperation, there will be no cooperation, and the new framework will definitely be based on the law passed by the Parliament,” Araghchi said.

State media last week quoted Aragchi as saying during a television program that Tehran would only allow for IAEA cooperation through the approval of the Supreme National Security Council, the country’s highest security body.

Iran has had limited IAEA inspections in the past as a pressure tactic in negotiating with the West, and it is unclear how soon talks between Tehran and Washington for a deal over its nuclear program will resume.

U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

The U.S. bombed three major Iranian nuclear sites in Iran in June as Israel waged an air war with Iran. Nearly 1,100 people were killed in Iran, including many military commanders and nuclear scientists, while 28 were killed in Israel.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that his country will recognize a Palestinian state in September, joining a growing list of Western allies as international condemnation and anger builds over Israel’s actions in Gaza.

A formal recognition will be made at the United Nations General Assembly next month, where “Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority,” Albanese said at a press conference.

On Monday, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said his country was also considering recognizing a Palestinian state, and would make a decision at a cabinet meeting in September.

“New Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if,” Peters said in a statement, echoing the language used by Australian officials in the weeks leading up to Monday’s announcement.

Describing the situation in Gaza as an “absolute human catastrophe,” New Zealand Prime Minister Chrisopher Luxon said in a press conference that it was “entirely appropriate that we take the time to actually make sure we weigh up our decision and work that through in a sensible way.”

Australia joins the United Kingdom, France and Canada in announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September. The move leaves the United States increasingly isolated from some of its closest allies in its defense of Israel’s escalating military campaign that’s decimated the besieged enclave after almost two years of war.

If Wellington also moves, it will mean that four of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network comprising the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, will recognize Palestinian statehood.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she’d spoken to US Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio in a call Sunday to give him advance notice of Australia’s impending announcement. A read-out of the call released by the US did not mention Palestinian statehood.

In an interview with Catholic broadcaster EWTN last week, Rubio said that declarations of support for a Palestinian state were “largely symbolic” and only “emboldened Hamas and made it harder to achieve peace.”

Albanese said Australia had sought and received assurances from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas would play no role in any future Palestinian state.

Other conditions include a commitment to demilitarize and to hold general elections, abolish a “system of payments to the families of prisoners and martyrs,” and governance and education reform, as well as “international oversight to guard against the incitement of violence and hatred,” Albanese said.

“A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict suffering and starvation in Gaza,” he said.

“This is about much more than drawing a line on a map. This is about delivering a lifeline to the people of Gaza.”

‘This is starvation, pure and simple’

Canada and France have both said they would recognize a Palestinian state in September, when world leaders meet in New York for the UN General Assembly. The UK has said that it will, too, if Israel does not meet conditions that include agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a rare press conference with international media in which he called steps by Western nations to recognize Palestinian statehood “shameful.”

“To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole, just like that, fall right into it, and buy this canard is disappointing,” Netanyahu said. “But it’s not going to change our position. We will not commit national suicide to get a good op ed for two minutes.”

Australian Foreign Minister Wong said, “we cannot keep doing the same thing, and hoping for a different outcome. We can’t keep waiting for the end of a peace process that has ground to a halt.”

Wong framed the decision as an “opportunity as a nation to contribute to momentum towards two states” which she underscored was “the only prospect for peace.”

Israel announced an expansion of its war in Gaza on Friday, with a planned military takeover of Gaza City that is expected to involve the forced evacuation of up to a million people.

On Sunday, United Nations officials and UN Security Council member states condemned the plan, saying it would lead to “another calamity” and constitute “further violations of international law.”

Ramesh Rajasingham, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva said what is unfolding in Gaza “is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple.”

Last month, the UN-backed food security agency the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that “the worst case scenario of famine” was unfolding in Gaza, its starkest alert yet as starvation spreads.

Hunger-related deaths are rising in the enclave, especially among children, Rajasingham told the UN Security Council. Since October 2023, 98 children have died from severe acute malnutrition — 37 since July 1 alone, he said, citing health authorities in Gaza.

Israel is facing growing global condemnation over its conduct in Gaza, with large protests breaking out in major cities – including London and Australia’s Sydney – as people demonstrate their horror and anger over starvation in the territory.

More than 460 people were arrested at a massive protest in London on Saturday and, last week, more than 90,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to protest the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Organizers put the figure at closer to 300,000 and plan more protests this month.