Kawea te Rongo, the Independent Māori Journalists Association, unequivocally condemn the targeted killing of prominent Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif alongside four of his colleagues, in an airstrike by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza City on 10 August, 2025. This deliberate attack represents yet another assault on press freedom by Israel. It brings the death toll of Palestinian journalists and media workers killed by Israel in Gaza since October, 2023 to at least 242, according to the United Nations. A press freedom group and United Nations experts had previously warned that al-Sharif’s life was in danger due to his continuous reporting from Gaza.
Journalists and media workers in Gaza have operated under harrowing conditions for over 22 months now, facing displacement, constant bombardment, starvation, devastating personal loss and targeted attacks as they attempt to do their jobs. While foreign media remains barred from reporting within the besieged enclave by Israeli authorities, local journalists are carrying out the crucial task of documenting and conveying the reality unfolding inside Gaza. They are the eyes and ears of the world. Attacks on journalists are not solely attacks on human life. They are direct attacks on press freedom and on truth itself.
Searching for and reporting the honest truth is central to our profession and its legitimacy. When our colleagues are being killed for disseminating the truth, we have a duty to speak up. New Zealand as a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has obligations to uphold and defend international humanitarian law. The New Zealand Government should act in accordance with its obligations under international law, holding Israel accountable for deaths and infringements of press freedom and the truth.
We stand in solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues and call on the government to take concrete action by:
- Condemning the intentional targeting and killing of journalists and media workers in Gaza and across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT);
- Calling for the independent investigation of these and other killings of journalists in Gaza by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and supporting legal proceedings to hold those responsible for killing journalists to account.
- Demanding that foreign media are allowed into Gaza unconditionally to report on the catastrophic situation unfolding there;
- Pressuring Israel through concrete diplomatic measures to end its blockade on humanitarian aid entering the starved Gaza Strip; and
- Sanctioning Israel until it complies with its obligations under international and humanitarian law.
Kei nga kai kawe kōrero ka tangi te pūtātara a Tūmatauenga, auē e moe.
Kei ngā kaiwhakanikoniko o te kupu, kia oho. Kei ngā kaiwhakairo o te kōrero, kia matara ake. Ka rongo te ao, ka rongo te ao.
Haere atu rā koutou ki te pūtahitanga o Rehua. Ahakoa kua hinga kotou i runga i te ātea o Tū, kua whatoro atu te ringa o Hinenui te Pō nō reira haere i runga i te huarahi, e kore e hoki mai.
Ka kite te ao, ka kite tō ao me pēhea rā, me pēhea rā, he moumou, ka huri koutou ki te ketekete o te kākā, te kūkū o te kererū me te koekoe o te Tūī ki te huihuinga o ngā wairua.
Moe mārire mai.
– Kawea Te Rongo Executive team.