© 2012 Fred Abrahams/Human Rights Watch 
 
 (Gaza City) – Four Israeli attacks on journalists and media facilities in Gaza during the November 2012 fighting violated the laws of war by targeting civilians and civilian objects that were making no apparent contribution to Palestinian military operations. The attacks killed two Palestinian cameramen, wounded at least 10 media workers, and badly damaged four media offices, as well as the offices of four private companies. The Israeli government asserted that each of the four attacks was on a legitimate military target but provided no specific information to support its claims. “Just because Israel says a journalist was a fighter or a TV station was a command center does not make it so,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. The IDF replied that it was checking the “details of the events” and would be able to respond once this check is complete without saying when that would be. The Israeli military said in a statement that it "acts in accordance with the laws of armed conflict, despite the ongoing deliberate violations and abuse of these laws by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip."
– Israel broke the laws of war by targeting media facilities and journalists "that were making no apparent contribution to Palestinian military operations" during its November offensive against Gaza, Human Rights Watch argues in a statement released today. The group recorded four attacks by Israeli forces over the eight-day conflict that killed two Palestinian cameraman, injured 10 media members, and destroyed four media offices; a 2-year-old living adjacent to a targeted building died as well. "Just because Israel says a journalist was a fighter or a TV station was a command center does not make it so," says the Mideast director of HRW. The Israeli military insists all of its attacks were "in accordance with the laws of armed conflict," reports the AP. The journalist advocacy group Reporters Without Borders yesterday reported that 2012 has been the deadliest year on record for journalists, with 88 killed around the world, largely because of conflicts in Syria, Pakistan, and Somalia. That's up by a third over last year, notes al-Jazeera.