UN rapporteur Albanese says impunity prevails over killings of journalists in Gaza

Mixed · 2UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese told a virtual press briefing on Tuesday 27 October that attacks on journalists in Gaza are part of a deliberate effort to conceal atrocities. 1 2 Mixed · 2She was presenting a report she compiled on attacks against journalism during the conflict, and said: "What is happening is not incidental; it is intentional." 2 1 Mixed · 2Albanese described the phenomenon as "mediacide", which she defined as "the systematic destruction of the media’s public function". She said: "In a genocide, the systematic attack on the media is part and parcel of the crime." 2 1

Right · 1Citing UN sources, she said Israel had killed nearly 300 journalists in Gaza and more than 700 of their family members, and that 70 were killed in retaliation for their work. She said more than 100 journalists had been detained, many of them tortured. 2 Right · 1She said Israel had destroyed 150 media centres and offices, about 80 percent of Gaza's media infrastructure, and damaged telecommunications networks. In the West Bank, she said, more than 139 attacks on journalists had recently been recorded. 2 Right · 1Albanese said Israeli authorities banned more than 1,600 news stories and redacted more than 1,100 in 2024 alone. She also said Israel had set up a "legitimization cell" to damage journalists' reputations before they were killed, and that some Israeli broadcasters, including Channel 12 and 14, had used dehumanising language about Palestinians. 2

Right · 1She criticised international news organisations and social media companies, saying they amplified unverified Israeli claims and suppressed Palestinian accounts. She cited takedown-request acceptance rates of 99.2 percent at TikTok and 94 percent at Meta, and about 38.8 million Facebook and Instagram posts reportedly suppressed. 2 Centre · 1Asked about the investigation into Israel's 2022 killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, she said: "Nothing, nothing happened. So, the update is impunity." She said the impunity was not only Israel's but also that of the United States. 1 Centre · 1On whether the International Criminal Court had failed Palestinians, she said complementarity of international criminal investigation "can be triggered", and urged prosecutions "starting now with activating domestic courts". She said citizens of France, Britain, the US and Belgium who served in the Israeli army could face scrutiny. 1

Centre · 1She rejected the use of the terrorist label, saying it had been used to justify famine and destruction in Gaza, and said Israel "cannot claim the right to wage a war against Gaza" even if it has a right to self-defence. She also noted the absence of many Western legacy media at the briefing, which she read as "possibly an act of solidarity" toward outlets named in the report. 1 Right · 1She closed by recalling Anas Al-Sharif, a Palestinian journalist killed on 10 August 2025 with five colleagues in an Israeli strike on a press tent near Gaza's Shifa Hospital, whose death she called "one story among hundreds". 2 Right · 1The coverage does not include a response from Israel, Meta, TikTok or the Israeli broadcasters she named. All figures and allegations are Albanese's own, as reported. 2