As part of the policy of targeting journalists in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalist Mohammed Saleh Al-Bardawil was killed on Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025, following an Israeli airstrike that targeted his home in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. His wife and three children were also killed.
According to a report issued by Al-Aqsa Radio, where Al-Bardawil worked as a broadcaster, his targeting was part of a campaign aimed at “distorting the Palestinian narrative and obscuring the truth.”
The Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed that this crime brings the number of Palestinian journalists killed since the start of the Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023, to 209, stressing that these attacks are “systematic and deliberate” aimed at silencing voices documenting war crimes against civilians.
In accordance with international humanitarian law; Journalists enjoy special protection during armed conflicts. Their direct targeting constitutes a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions and a clear breach of Article 79 of Additional Protocol I, which protects civilian journalists from any attack during armed conflicts.
The International Criminal Court also classifies the deliberate targeting of journalists as a “war crime.” This has been confirmed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, who has emphasised in several previous reports that the killing of journalists and attempts to silence them constitute a flagrant violation of media freedom and human rights.
The targeting of journalists is part of a broader Israeli policy targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to escalate attacks and implement forced displacement plans with US support, in clear violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits genocide and forced population transfer.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, the death toll since Israel resumed its attacks on March 18 has reached 1,001 dead and more than 2,359 injured as of Monday afternoon, most of them women and children. The total number of victims of the ongoing aggression since October 7 has risen to more than 164,000, killed and wounded, as the blockade of the Gaza Strip continues and the humanitarian situation deteriorates.
Amid the ongoing war of extermination and international silence, fears are growing of a broader escalation that could exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Meanwhile, Palestinian journalists remain on the front lines, paying with their lives to convey the truth to the world.
