IN its ongoing aggression and belligerence, Israel is not even sparing media outlets. A building in Gaza, which housed media houses including Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera and US-based Associated Press (AP) collapsed on Saturday after being struck by Israeli missiles.
What kind of justification Israel and its western allies will find and give for such an attack on media? Does not this constitute a breach of international humanitarian law? Indeed by attacking media, the Jewish government has committed another war crime in occupied Palestinian territories.
The media building was deliberately and systematically targeted in order to stop journalists and cameramen from picturing human sufferings as a result of barbaric Israeli offensive and atrocities in Gaza.
It was a catastrophic attempt to create a cloak of secrecy around this conflict and to silence truth by killing the messenger.
In fact had such an attack taken place somewhere else especially the Muslim countries, the western world up till now would have come up with a stern warning of dire consequences. This glaring double standard is really making matters worst.
Israel has a long history of targeting journalists yet it has never been held accountable for its crimes either against Palestinians or journalists.
The fact of the matter is that indiscriminate attacks on media have been a significant feature of Israel’s military offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Ever since the beginning of events in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities have also arrested scores of media workers as a clear attempt to silence media reporting on the ground.
Israel is committing grave war crimes and if it is not stopped today, it would entail serious consequences not only for peace in the Middle East but the whole world.
The international community must stop turning its back to Israeli atrocities and come forward in a decisive manner for rescue of Palestinian people.
All eyes are on International Criminal Court (ICC) as to how it moves to hold the Israeli leaders accountable for their crimes.
In our view, this will only happen provided leaders of the Muslim block speak with one voice and press for a fair trial.
