Middle East: UN chief condemns killing of Gaza journalists

The targeted killing of four Al Jazeera reporters and an assistant by Israeli forces in Gaza has drawn international condemnation. Israel accused one of the journalists, Anas al-Sharif, of leading a Hamas terror cell, which Al Jazeera has denied.

United Nation Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the killing of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza in an Israeli air strike on Monday.

"The secretary-general calls for an independent and impartial investigation into these latest killings," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

"At least 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began. Journalists and media workers must be respected, they must be protected and they must be allowed to carry out their work freely, free from fear and free from harassment."

Meanwhile, the European Union's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas also condemned the killing.

"We take note of the Israeli allegation that the group was Hamas terrorists, but there is a need in these cases to provide clear evidence, in the respect of rule of law, to avoid targeting of journalists," she said in a statement.

Germany has pressed Israel for a full and transparent explanation over the killing of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza.

Anas al-Sharif and four of his colleagues were killed on Sunday in an Israeli strike near Al Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City.

The Israeli military has claimed that al-Sharif headed a Hamas cell, an allegation Al Jazeera and several international media rights groups have rejected.

"Israel is now expected, from our perspective, to explain itself in the most transparent and comprehensible manner possible," a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry told the German press agency DPA. 

He said the killing of media workers is "absolutely unacceptable" under international humanitarian law.

"When such a killing occurs, as it has now, the party responsible must clearly and transparently explain why it was deemed necessary," he said, adding that this has not yet taken place.

The spokesman said if Israel contends the strike targeted a specific individual, it must clarify why a total of five people were killed.

The German Journalists' Association (DJV) also condemned the strike.

Reporters without Borders (RSF) said in July that Israel has killed over 200 journalists since it commenced its latest military operation in Gaza in October 2023. 

French President Emmanuel Macron suggested forming an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to stabilize Gaza.

"The Security Council must now work to establish this mission and give it a mandate," he said. "I have asked my teams to work on this without delay with our partners," Macron added.

It comes as he described Israel's plans to take control of Gaza City a "disaster" and path to "permanent war."

"The Israeli hostages and the people of Gaza will continue to be the primary victims of this strategy," he said. 

He urged the Israeli government to put an end to the conflict by implementing a permanent ceasefire.

The question of Palestinian statehood continues to draw support, with more and more countries willing to recognize Palestine.

But the pathway to statehood is built on conventions and custom — and is rarely easy.

Read the full story on the outlook for Palestinian statehood.

The UN human rights office on Monday condemned the killing of at least five Palestinian journalists in Gaza, saying the actions by Israel's military represented a "grave breach of international humanitarian law."

"Israel must respect and protect all civilians, including journalists," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) added.

The post on social media platform X was accompanied by a photograph showing flattened blue tents next to a bullet-ridden wall in Gaza City.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said it is appalled by the killing of Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, by Israeli forces in Gaza on Sunday.

According to Al Jazeera, the five journalists were killed when an Israeli bombardment struck a tent used by media workers near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

In a statement announcing al-Sharif's death, Israel's military accused him of leading a Hamas cell and "advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and [Israeli] troops."

The CPJ said Israel has a "documented pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without presenting credible proof."

"Israel's pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom," said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah.

"Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable."

Al-Sharif was one of Al Jazeera's most prominent reporters in Gaza since the start of the war and had previously been accused by Israel of Hamas membership, without evidence.

In recent weeks, he had reported on the starvation he and his colleagues faced due to Israel's refusal to allow sufficient food aid into Gaza.

Here is a selection of DW coverage from the past few days on the crisis in Gaza:

Germany conflicted over project to rescue children from Gaza

Five German cities have offered to accept and treat sick and traumatized children from the Gaza Strip.

However, conservative-led ministries in the federal government are putting the brakes on the plan.

Read the full story on German plans to treat children from Gaza.

After starvation in Gaza, Sudan, refeeding syndrome a risk

Even if food aid reaches Gaza, Sudan and other famine zones, complications can arise in malnourished or starving people when they regain access to regular meals.

Those complications can be fatal.

Read the full story on why treating people suffering from starvation can be complicated.

London police arrest protesters supporting Palestine Action

Police in London arrested protesters opposing the British government's decision to ban the pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action.

Thousands of Israelis protest plans for Gaza City occupation

Tens of thousands joined protests in Tel Aviv to oppose the Israeli government's plan to escalate the war in Gaza.

They were the first such demonstrations since Israel's Security Cabinet approved plans to occupy Gaza City earlier this week.

Germany's Merz defends partial weapons halt to Israel

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that despite the decision, Germany's approach towards Israel has not changed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes Merz will reconsider.

Read the full story to find out why German Chancellor Merz had to defend his decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel .

On November 15, 1988, during the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule — commonly known by the Arabic word 'intifada' — the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat proclaimed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, naming Jerusalem as its capital.

He made the declaration in Algiers before the exiled Palestinian National Council, which formally adopted the two-state solution as its political goal — envisioning Israeli and Palestinian states existing side by side.

Algeria recognised the state within minutes, becoming the first nation to do so. Within a week, dozens more followed — much of the Arab world, India, Turkey, most of Africa and several Central and Eastern European countries.

Recognition surged again in late 2010 and early 2011, as the Middle East peace process faltered. Several South American nations — including Argentina, Brazil and Chile — endorsed Palestinian statehood after Israel lifted a temporary freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

In 2011, with peace talks stalled, the Palestinians applied for full UN membership. That bid failed, but on October 31 the UN agency UNESCO admitted Palestine as a full member, prompting strong objections from Israel and the United States.

In November 2012, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to grant Palestine "non-member observer state" status, allowing the Palestinian flag to fly at the UN headquarters in New York for the first time. Three years later, the International Criminal Court accepted Palestine as a state party.

The Gaza war that followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack reignited momentum for Palestinian statehood. In 2024, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Bahamas and Armenia announced recognition.

They were joined by four European states — Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia — marking the first new EU recognitions since Sweden’s 2014 move, which had strained its ties with Israel.

Several EU members, including Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania, had recognised Palestine back in 1988, before joining the bloc. Others, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, also did so at the time but no longer recognise it today.

Three-quarters of UN member states have already recognized or plan to recognize Palestinian statehood, with Australia having just pledged to do so at the UN General Assembly in September.

The Israel-Hamas war has revived a global push for Palestinians to have a state of their own.

According to a tally by the AFP news agency, at least 145 of the 193 UN members now recognize or plan to recognize a Palestinian state.

Australia's neighbor New Zealand is also considering recognizing a Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has said.

Peters said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's cabinet would make a formal decision in September and present the government's position during the UN Leaders' Week later that month.

"We intend to weigh up the issue carefully and then act according to New Zealand's principles, values and national interest," Peters said.

The government, he said, needed to weigh up whether sufficient progress was being made towards the Palestinian territories becoming a viable and legitimate state for New Zealand to grant recognition.

"New Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if," Peters added.

Australia is set to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, the country's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.

"A two-state solution is humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

"Until Israeli and Palestinian statehood is permanent, peace can only be temporary. Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own. We will work with the international community to make this right a reality," Albanese added.

The announcement follows a push from other Western countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, to recognize Palestinian statehood after Israel launched its war on Gaza nearly two years ago in response to Hamas attacks.

"There is a moment of opportunity here, and Australia will work with the international community to seize it," Albanese said.

He added that Australia's decision was based on reassurances from the Palestinian Authority that there would be "no role for the terrorists of Hamas in any future Palestinian state."

The Palestinian Authority, however, does not control Gaza, which has been governed by Hamas for nearly two decades.

Following Australia's announcement, Israel's embassy in Canberra told the AFP news agency the ambassador was "unavailable" to comment.

Just hours earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized international calls to recognize Palestinian statehood, saying it would "not bring peace, it will bring war."

Welcome to DW's coverage of Gaza, Israel and the wider Middle East on Monday, August, 11.

You join us after Australia said it would officially recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a two-state solution is humanity's best shot at breaking the cycle of violence in the Middle East.

Follow along as DW brings you the latest reports, explainers and analysis on developments across the Middle East.