The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the killing of three journalists in an Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza City.
SEE: 3 Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli strike on hospital in Gaza City, death toll rises to 225
CAIR also expressed support for a call by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and more than 130 media and press freedom organizations for unrestricted international media access to Gaza and for full protection of journalists.
Israeli forces bombed the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, killing the journalists, including Palestine TV cameraman Ismail Badah, reporter Suleiman Hajjaj, and Samir al-Rifai from the Shms News Agency. At least 43 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza today.
SEE: Israel kills at least 43 in Gaza today, majority in south Strip
Pieces of flesh scattered at al-Ahli Hospital after journalists killed
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“The genocidal Israeli government targets journalists because it does not want the world to see what its horrific campaign of mass slaughter looks like. American and world media should end their silence and take a stand on behalf of their colleagues who are being assassinated in Gaza. Our government must immediately end its support for a state that kills journalists, starves entire populations, tortures detainees, and massacres men, women and children on a daily basis.”
He noted that CAIR has previously called on the American media to oppose Israeli targeting of journalists.
CAIR Calls on U.S. Media to Air Video of Journalists Burning Alive After Israeli Tent Bombing
A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists found that a record number of journalists were killed in 2024, almost two-thirds of them Palestinians who were killed by Israel.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com