The Committee to Support Journalists welcomed, today, Thursday, the decision of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, "Fatou Bensouda", to open an investigation into the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people during its aggression on the Gaza Strip in 2014.
In a statement, the committee confirmed that the occupation also committed its most heinous crimes against journalists while covering its aggression and crimes against the Palestinian people, noting that in 2014, 17 Palestinian journalists and photographers were martyred.
In 2016, a journalist, Iyad Omar Sajdia, was also martyred, and in 2015 two journalists were martyred, namely Ahmed Hassan Ali Jahajha and Ahmed Yahya Al-Harbawi, and during 2012, 3 journalists were martyred, and in 2009 four journalists were martyred.
The committee pointed out that the occupation continued its aggression against Palestinian journalists, as two journalists were martyred during their coverage of the return marches, Yasser Murtaja and Ahmed Abu Hussein.
The Committee to Support Journalists stated that the occupation was deliberately targeting journalists and photographers on the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip during the return marches that broke out on March 30, 2018 on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip.
According to the documentation of the Committee to Support Journalists since the beginning of the Return March 2018-2019, these violations have led to the martyrdom of two journalists, namely Yasser Murtaja (30 years old) from the "Ain Media" agency on April 7, 2018, and Ahmed Abu Hussein (25 years), correspondent of Voice Radio. People on April 25, 2018.
The committee pointed out that the occupation increased its violations against journalists, as it targeted more than 420 journalists at the time, whose injuries varied between 104 wounded with live and explosive bullets and bullets that penetrated their body and often the lower areas, and more than 180 journalists were suffocated as a result of the occupation’s direct firing of tear gas canisters. The poisoner headed towards them and caused them to be poisoned and fainted, while 102 others were injured by a direct gas bomb, which led to burns, wounds, fractures, and the penetration of the fire bomb into their heads and bodies, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairments, some of them lost their hearing and vision, while a journalist was subjected to a case of amputation in one of his legs, and 32 were wounded by jacketed bullets Rubberized.
The coordinator of the Committee to Support Journalists in the Palestinian Territories, Saleh Al-Masry, confirmed that according to the testimonies of journalists who were injured during the marches, the snipers of the occupation soldiers deliberately wounded journalists in fatal places despite their wearing press vests and taking occupational safety measures.
The Egyptian journalist said that some journalists are still suffering from these injuries, as journalist Attia Darwish lost one eye, and about 47 female journalists and media figures were injured while covering the marches, as they sustained various injuries and are still suffering from its effects until this moment while covering the field.
Al-Masry emphasized that the decision of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court would constitute a glimmer of hope for the victims of these attacks in pursuing the perpetrators of war crimes and not with impunity.
He added: "The crimes committed by the leaders of the Israeli occupation against Palestinian journalists during the performance of their professional and journalistic duties are continuous, systematic and widespread crimes, and this makes the rapid completion of the investigation an urgent and necessary necessity, in line with the mandate of the International Criminal Court in combating impunity and deterrence. Perpetrators of these crimes. "
The committee considered that the decision of the Attorney General to open the criminal investigation and the decision of the First Pre-Trial Chamber demonstrates its respect for its mandate and independence, and its commitment to the values ​​and principles of criminal justice as stipulated in the Rome Statute.
Al-Masry praised the decision, expressing the committee´s readiness, along with the press frameworks, to cooperate and facilitate the conduct of these investigations in order to bring the perpetrators of war crimes to international courts and not to escape punishment and to hold them accountable for the crimes they committed against journalists.
