12. Why did Israel want to kill journalists?

On Sunday, August 10, 2025, Israel deliberately attacked a media tent the journalists were working out of, at the gates of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in seconds. 

A freelance reporter was also killed in the strike.

They were all young. Anas al-Sharif, one of the most famous faces and a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent was aged 28. At the time he was resting with his colleagues Mohammed Qreiqeh, 33, Ibrahim Zaher 25, and Mohammed Noufal, 29. 

This makes the tally to 223 – yes, 223 journalists have been reported killed in the Gaza war till date.

The Press Note Issuer, the self-styled saver of the world, United Nations secretary-general called for an independent and impartial investigation into these killings. 

But who bothers UN?

France was the first, and to my knowledge while I write this, is the only country to openly condemn the attack, saying “the journalists were targeted while carrying out their reporting duties. They must never be targeted and international journalists must be able to operate freely and independently to document the reality of the conflict.”

In the past also, so far, I never came across any statement by any nation against this crime – right, Israel has been committing this crime relentlessly. 

And it is not a fluke or a collateral damage. Israel has been deliberately killing journalists, also an easy target for them because it is afraid of all those who says the truth and shows the reality.

A journalist reports the reality on the ground. 

And Israel doesn’t like that reality to be out for all to see.

Just imagine 223 innocent journalists who were doing their duty. They were not fighting against Israel. They were not supporting Hamas either.

And Indian media is silent on Israel as Isreal is a friend of India.

Now I am waiting for comment from Netanyahu’s son who wrote “fuck off” in a message posted on the social network X addressed to President of France Emmanuel Macron, after France recognized the State of Palestine. 

Netanyahu’s son is enjoying himself in the USA. He has been continuously making derogatory remarks against those who speak some logic.

(Although not even remotely connected, personally, I remember our own turbulent time – those Emergency Days and Sanjay Gandhi – when the mother-son duo made my generation’s life hell for 19 months and destroyed our dreams and the nation itself. Politician’s sons have always played havoc.)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement that Israel intends to take over all of Gaza and invade Gaza City has met with widespread outrage around the world. 

On August 2, over three hundred thousand people marched to Whitehall demanding UK prime minister to end all arms sales to Israel, expel Israeli diplomats and immediately impose sanctions ‘on the genocidal state’. 

Israel is blocking the entry of aid trucks unfazed by international pressure. According to media reports it has deliberately bombed 44 food banks, killing dozens of workers in them, and targeted 57 food distribution centers with bombardment.

Today, the foreign ministers of 25 countries as well as two signatories from the EU have released a joint statement saying that humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels and called Israel to let in aid shipments and allow essential humanitarian actors to operate in Gaza.

The signatories are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean and the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.

Read the full statement:

“The humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels. Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation. Humanitarian space must be protected, and aid should never be politicised.

However, due to restrictive new registration requirements, essential international NGOs may be forced to leave the OPTs imminently which would worsen the humanitarian situation still further. 

We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating. Immediate, permanent and concrete steps must be taken to facilitate safe, large-scale access for the UN, international NGOs and humanitarian partners. 

All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment. 

Lethal force must not be used at distribution sites, and civilians, humanitarians and medical workers must be protected.

We are grateful to the US, Qatar and Egypt for their efforts in pushing for a ceasefire and pursuing peace. We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered.”

In Israel also the gulf between the government position and that of the general public is widening daily.

Two days back I read an op-ed article in Le Monde penned by the well-known Israeli writer Etgar Keret wherein he emphasized that we must do whatever is humanly possible to make the war in Gaza stop. 

He wrote: “It should have ended over a year ago, in the early months of the war, when there was an offer for a comprehensive hostage deal on Netanyahu’s desk. Stopping the war will put an end to the daily killing and starvation of Gazans, and bring the Israeli hostages home. All polls show that an overwhelming majority of Israelis support a permanent ceasefire. And they’re not the only ones.

“Netanyahu, after promising his voters fifteen months ago that he was a mere step from total victory, he is now leading us toward what some members of his messianic government ecstatically call eternal war. As he continues to drag Israel into committing war crimes in the name of democracy, Netanyahu has seized international attention, but as far as he’s concerned, everyone can keep barking. From mass protests on Israeli streets to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the voices of opposition seem powerless to stop the crimes and injustices.”

Etgar Keret called for unity among 'politicians and artists, liberals and conservatives, religious and secular, Israelis and Europeans and Americans.'

Yes, you heard it right – this is written by an Israeli writer.