PALESTINIANS living in the UK have urged Keir Starmer and David Lammy to demand an international investigation after five journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike.
On Sunday night, heavy bombardment was reported in Gaza City. Shortly before midnight local time, Al Jazeera reports that correspondent Anas al-Sharif was killed in the attack along with four of his colleagues.
The strike hit a tent housing Al Jazeera journalists that was outside Shifa Hospital, Rami Mohanna, administrative director for the hospital, would later say.
A total of seven people were killed in the attack, including Mohammed Qreiqeh, another Al Jazeera correspondent, and Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, who were camera operators.
Israel’s military confirmed killing al-Sharif, alleging he was with Hamas.
The deaths caused international outrage, and now the UK Gaza Community, which represents 350 Palestinian families from Gaza living in the UK, has urged the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to demand answers.
In a letter to Starmer, Lammy and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, the group named those killed, adding: “These journalists are not just names on a screen — they are well known to us.
“They are friends, relatives, former classmates, and people from our neighbourhoods. Their families, schools, and communities are deeply woven into our own lives here in the UK.
“They have been the faces and voices relating the horror back home to us, and their loss is deeply distressing and personal.”
The letter then said that UK officials have not yet taken any “meaningful action” to stop the genocide in Gaza or “grave violations” of human rights and press freedoms.
“The killing of journalists — targeted or through reckless disregard — is a breach of international humanitarian law and an assault on truth itself, intended to disguise Israel’s genocidal project from public view,” it adds.
“This incident is not an isolated tragedy. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 186 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
“The Gaza government’s media office places the figure at 238 journalists, and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) records at least 180 Palestinian media workers killed. These figures reveal an unprecedented and systematic assault on the press.”
The group then urged the UK Government to suspend arms sales and military cooperation to Israel, condemn the killing of journalists and targeting of civilians by Israeli forces, and to demand and back an independent “transparent” international investigation into the killing of journalists “with a view to holding those responsible accountable under international law”.
Demanding protection for journalists and civilians through diplomatic routes was also requested.
“Our frustration grows each day that silence prevails,” the letter ends.
“These killings are part of a systemic pattern that must end. The UK must stand up for its stated values and use its influence to protect journalists and civilians in Gaza.
“We demand action — not tomorrow, not in the coming weeks — but now.”
The UK Government has been contacted for comment.
A few minutes before his death, al-Sharif posted on X: “Breaking: Intense, concentrated Israeli bombardment using ‘fire belts’ is hitting the eastern and southern areas of Gaza City.”
The 28-year-old leaves behind a wife and two small children.
His father was reportedly killed by an Israeli strike on the family home in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City in December 2023. Al-Sharif said he would continue to report and refused to leave Gaza.
