On Monday, March 18, 2024, Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul was severely beaten and arrested by Israeli forces at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
The incident occurred while al-Ghoul was covering the Israeli army’s fourth raid into the hospital, where thousands of civilians were trapped, including medical staff, patients, and displaced families.
Al-Ghoul was released after a 12-hour arrest. The Israeli forces also destroyed media equipment and arrested other journalists gathered in the hospital.
Israeli forces reportedly stormed the Al Jazeera correspondent’s room, where he was with other journalists, and severely beat and dragged them before arresting them. The Israeli army has been accused of targeting journalists to deter them from reporting its crimes against civilians in Gaza.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Press Institute (IPI) condemned al-Ghoul’s arrest, stating that journalists play an essential role in documenting conflicts and that the arrests and killings of journalists diminish our understanding of the situation in Gaza.
Israel’s military, on Monday, March 18 initiated a targeted operation within limited areas of Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, claiming intelligence indicating the presence of senior Hamas operatives using the facility to coordinate attacks against Israel.
On Tuesday, March 19, Israel’s Agriculture Minister, Avi Dichter claimed that the ground invasion of Rafah must go ahead if Israel wants to “fully defeat Hamas.” “There is no other way to do it,” Dichter told Israel’s Reshet Bet radio.
However, President of the United States Joe Biden has called for Israeli PM Netanyahu to reconsider his planned invasion of Rafah calling it a “mistake”.
Netanyahu has agreed to send an Israeli delegation to Washington, DC to discuss “alternative approaches” to a Rafah ground invasion.
While the US President has condemned and criticised Israel for their actions in Gaza, on various occasions, he has taken no concrete steps to ensure a ceasefire. The US last month vetoed a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war at the UN Security Council meeting.
