11/8/2025–|Last update: 02:11 (Mecca time)
The United Nations Special Rapporteur concerned with freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan said that the Israeli army is seeking to “kill the truth” by silencing every voice that narrates what is happening in the Gaza Strip, stressing that Al -Jazeera correspondent Anas Al -Sharif was a “brave journalist” who continued to work despite the direct threat to his life.
In her interview with Al -Jazeera, Khan expressed a profound sadness of the martyrdom of Al -Sharif and his colleague Al -Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Qureiq, stressing that journalists in the Gaza Strip are paying their lives for the world to keep the atrocities committed by the occupation, adding that its previous warnings did not deter the Israeli army to proceed with its direct targeting of journalists, “they do not know the honor,” as they described it.
The statements of the UN official came after an Israeli bombing targeting a tent of journalists attached to the Al -Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, which resulted in the martyrdom of the two colleagues Anas Al -Sharif, Muhammad Qureiqa, the photographers Ibrahim Zahir and Muhammad Nawfal, in one of the most heinous attacks on the press since the war began on the Strip 22 months ago.
Khan said that this crime is part of a systematic policy to silence any witness to what is going on, considering that the occupation believes that it is able to obliterate the Palestinian narrative, but “he will not be able to kill the truth.”
She added that the journalists in Gaza are paying their lives a price to transfer the facts, and that Israel wants to “silence any voice and any eye attest to the atrocities” committed by its army, stressing that the world needs to raise the pace of condemnation and immediate action.
She said that the continued impunity of punishment and the lack of accountability of the occupation leaders to kill tens of thousands of Gazans, including dozens of journalists, encourages Israel to proceed in the series of assassinations, calling for more pressure and sanctions on Tel Aviv.
She added that the Gaza war recorded the largest number of martyr journalists since the United Nations began documenting violations against the media, stressing that the International Criminal Court should move and the western countries allied to Israel must prove its commitment to the freedom of the press through practical steps.
Wild operation
The United Nations linked to the targeting of the two colleagues and the announcement of a wide wild operation to occupy Gaza City and the middle sector, considering that this policy aims to prevent the world from seeing what is going on on the ground.
The United Nations decision revealed that she personally contacted Al -Sharif after her warning statement of the occupation threats, and he told her that he would continue to convey the truth despite his knowledge of the seriousness of his situation, describing him as “the very brave man.”
She emphasized that the assassination of journalists will not stop the flow of news from Gaza, and that free voices will continue to expose the massacres to which civilians are exposed, calling on the international community to move urgently to stop the war, ensure the arrival of humanitarian aid and protect the media.
Khan said that the continued impunity of punishment encourages Israel to continue the assassinations, considering that stopping these crimes requires imposing more severe pressure and international sanctions on Tel Aviv, as well as the international criminal court move to hold officials accountable.
She pointed out that the number of journalists who have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war exceeds any other conflict and documented by the United Nations, stressing the need for western countries allied to Israel if they are serious in defending freedom of the press, otherwise their credibility will be lost.
Khan likened the behavior of Israel to the “besieged monster” that attacks everyone who tries to expose his practices, noting that the occupation army intentionally killed the Sharif despite knowing that the world is following his cause, which calls for urgent steps to hold him accountable.
She concluded by emphasizing the need to allow the international media to enter Gaza because the local press cannot bear these risks alone, calling for a global action to stop the “massacres of journalists” and ensure that humanitarian aid has reached the trapped civilians.
