10/16/23 10/16/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we are seeing an unprecedented dissent into darkness. no electricity, no internet, no water, no food, no aid. bombs raining down on gaza. israeli government signaling that they plan to commit atrocities. they must be stopped. amy: the death toll from the israeli bombardment of gaza has

topped 2700, including over 1000 palestinian children. over one million residents of gaza have been displaced. we will talk to omar shakir of human rights watch in the israel i historian raz segal who said israel's assault on gaza is a "a textbook case of genocide." >> we're seeing a genocide unfolding today, which is quite exceptional in its character. as a jewish holocaust studies scholar, this is an urgent concern for me. there may be time to stop this unfolding attack, but we need to recognize it for what it is. amy: over the past 10 days, at least 12 journalists, mostly palestinians, have been killed. we will speak to the journalist lama al-arian. her close friend, the reuters

journalist issam abdallah, was killed in an israeli artillery strike in southern lebanon. >> officials from many different political parties and many journalist friends of his. he was buried with his press jacket and on his grave was cameras. amy: she joins us from beirut. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in gaza, another half million people, or one quarter of the population, have fled their homes in the past few days as israel bombards the besieged enclave for the 10th straight day and amid an anticipated ground invasion. last week, israel ordered 1.1 million gazans in the north to evacuate to the south virtually

, a impossible task which would also constitute the war crime of forcible transfer. on friday, hamas officials said 70 people, mostly women and children, were killed when israeli airstrikes hit convoys that were attempting to flee gaza city. over 2800 palestinians have been killed since israel's assault began. over 10,000 have been wounded. palestinian health officials says 47 families have been entirely removed from the gaza civil registry, meaning those families no longer have any remaining members. this is a resident of khan younis, whose home was destroyed in an israeli airstrike. >> this is a genocide, not a war . it is an attempt to displace the people of the gaza strip but this will not happen. amy: at least 1400 israelis have been killed in hamas attacks. israel says 200 of its citizens are being held captive by hamas. a growing crowd is massing at gaza's rafah border crossing

with egypt amid reports the border will open today. humanitarian groups are also relying on the border crossing to open to allow severely needed aid into gaza, where residents are dealing with dwindling supplies of food, fuel, medicine, and water. >> we don't have any water. we have reached disastrous situation. the situation is catastrophic by all standards. people can't do anything in the current conditions. amy: china has called on israel to stop its "collective punishment of the people in gaza," saying israel has gone beyond self-defense. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken swept through seven countries in the middle east over the weekend, asserting israel has the right to defend itself. the committee to protect journalists says at least 12 media workers have been killed since the war started. on friday, reuters journalist

issam abdallah died in an israeli artillery strike near the israel-lebanon border while filming a livestream video. two of his colleagues were injured in the attack. this is his mother. >> they don't want the truth to come out. they don't want their crimes to come out. they were filming the shelling from afar. why would they bomb them? amy: we will speak with one of his closest friends, reporter lama al-arian, later in the broadcast. elsewhere, journalists from bbc arabic say they were pulled from their vehicle by israeli police in tel aviv and held at gunpoint. and on sunday night, a right-wing mob attacked the home of the israeli left-wing and ultra-orthodox journalist israel frey. the mob accused him of being a traitor for speaking out against the killing of palestinian civilians. meanwhile, israeli communications minister shlomo karhi is pushing emergency measures that would allow police

to arrest citizens and journalists whose content "harms national morale." here in the u.s., huffpost reports the state department instructed officials not to use certain terms when speaking in public about the war, including de-escalation, cease-fire, end to violence, and restoring calm. across the u.s. and around the world, protests calling for an end to the genocide of palestinians continued over the weekend. this is palestinian-american writer laila el haddad speaking in front of the white house. >> we are just here for that, mainly, and for all palestinians, to show them they have a voice here through us and the humanitarian situation right now in addition to the disproportionate collective punishment against innocent civilian population. amy: here in new york, a protest in brooklyn organized by jewish voice for peace led to the

arrests of dozens of people, including two new york state assembly members, as well as rabbis and descendants of holocaust survivors. the message of that protest, "do not weaponize our grief." the group "if not now" is calling on american jews and allies to protest in front of the white house today. more protests by jewish groups are planned throughout the week. in plainfield, illinois, a six-year-old palestinian-american child was stabbed to death in his own home in an anti-muslim hate crime. the boy's name was wadea al-fayoume. his mother hanaan shahin was also stabbed in the attack but is expected to survive. police have charged joseph czuba, who is believed to be the victims' landlord, with murder and hate crimes. illinois state representative abdelnasser rashid spoke at a council on american-islamic relations, or cair, press

conference in chicago warning leaders and media that muslims and arabs in the united states could face more violence due to the handling and coverage of the conflict in gaza and israel. >> this was directly connected to the dehumanizing of palestinians that has been allowed over the last week by ora media, elected officials who lack the moral compass encourage to call for something as simple as de-escalation and peace. amy: in afghanistan, another 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the western city of herat sunday, compounding a worsening humanitarian disaster. thousands of people have died due to repeated earthquakes in the region since october 7. the world food programme laid -- said the situation is dire following sunday's quake. >> two more earthquakes have struck afghanistan this morning, bringing it to a total of seven

earthquakes and multiple aftershocks of the last eight days. dozens of villages are affected, some entirely flattened. those who have survived have lost everything. they are left with no shelter or food. amy: in poland, an opposition coalition led by former european council president donald toosk has won weekend parliamentary elections, propelled by record voter turnout of more than 70%. it was an unexpected defeat for the ruling right-wing law and justice party, whose popularity never recovered after it sharply restricted access to abortions, sparking the largest protests since the solidarity movement of the 1980's. toosk has promised to reverse a crackdown on the rights of women and lgbtqia people. he's also pledged stronger ties with the e.u. and continued support for ukraine against russia. >> i have been a politician and sportsman for many years. i have never been so happy in my life with second place. poland has won.

we removed the law and justice party from power. amy: in ecuador, wealthy businessman daniel noboa has been declared the winner of sunday's snap presidential election. the 35-year-old heir to a banana industry fortune is the youngest person ever elected president of ecuador. noboa received about 52% of the vote against 47% for leftist luisa gonzález, a member of former president rafael correa's citizen revolution movement party. noboa's win comes after economic crisis that has forced thousands of ecuadorians to flee to the u.s.-mexico border. the presidential campaign was marred by unprecedented violence, including the assassination of the anticorruption presidential candidate fernando villavicencio in august. in new zealand, a coalition of two conservative parties has emerged as the winner of saturday's election. the national party, led by new

zealand's next prime minister christopher luxon, won 39% of the vote. it's poised to take power in a right-wing coalition with the populist anti-immigrant new zealand first party. the labour party of former prime minister jacinda ardern won just 27% of the vote. voters cited the cost of living as their major concern. in all show you, voters have rejected a historic referendum -- in australia, voters have rejected a historic referendum that would have recognized indigenous peoples in the australian constitution and established an indigenous voice to parliament committee. in a joint statement, groups representing australia's aboriginal people and torres strait islanders called for a week of silence. they wrote -- "that people who have only been on this continent for 235 years would refuse to recognize those whose home this land has been for 60,000 and more years, is beyond reason." this is dean parkin, who led the campaign to support the referendum. >> i want to state directly to

those australians who voted no with hardness in your hearts, please understand -- people never wanted to take anything from you. we have never and will never mean you harm. all we have wanted was to join with you our indigenous story, our indigenous culture, and not to take away what it is you have but to add to it, to strengthen it, to enrich it. amy: in the democratic republic of the congo, at least eight united nations peacekeepers have been suspended and detained over allegations of sexual assault. the workers where based in eastern congo, which has seen violence soar in recent years due to conflict among dozens of armed groups. there are over 12,000 u.n. peacekeepers in the congo. many local communities have protested their presence in the country while the drc president

also called on the withdrawal saying the u.n. peacekeeping mission has failed. u.n. this is a spokesperson. >> there's evidence indicating serious failure in the exercise of command-and-control a senior military officials longing to that same contingent. the relevant authorities are being informed of the allegations including a request to deploy national investigation officer. amy: while the u.n. can investigate suspected crimes, it has no power to prosecute. u.n. peacekeeping missions have previously faced sexual abuse reports in congo as well as haiti and the central african republic. in louisiana, hardline republican attorney general jeff landry has won the governor's race, flipping the seat red after two terms under democrat john bel edwards. landry will rule alongside a gop-controlled legislature, which had been stymied by governor edwards who vetoed over 300 bills during his time in

office. landry has defended anti-trans laws, censorship in schools, louisiana's abortion ban, and racist voting maps. and health care workers have reached a tentative agreement with kaiser permanente a week after some 75,000 employees walked off their jobs for three days, the largest-ever health care strike in u.s. history. the proposed agreement reached friday includes pay raises, with a minimum of $25 an hour in california and $23 an hour in other states. kaiser also committed to speed up the hiring of new employees to help address ongoing staff shortages. separately, california governor gavin newsom signed legislation to raise the minimum wage of health care workers to $25 per hour over the next decade. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in gaza where the death toll from israel's bombardment has topped

2750. the dead include over 1000 palestinian children. over 50 palestinians have been killed in the occupied west bank. over one million residents of gaza have been displaced, including many who fled their homes after israel ordered the entire northern gaza strip to be vacated. more than 1000 people are believed to be trapped under rubble following israeli air strikes. and the humanitarian catastrophe is growing as hospitals are running out of electricity and water. water has already run out at u.n. shelters across the gaza strip. this is dr. mohammed abu mughaiseeb, deputy medical coordinator in gaza for doctors without borders. >> the situation is very difficult. today we worked for two hours looking for drinkable water. drinkable water is no longer available. it is very difficult. there is no electricity.

the hospitals are barely working. a lot of medical staff left with their families because they are not safe. they needed to evacuate with their families as well. medication is decreasing as well. life is very dangerous. there's only one surgeon and one anesthesiologist in hospital. they have a lot of shortage -- i mean, we don't know where we're going. amy: oxfam's omar ghrieb recorded this audio message from gaza after fleeing the northern gaza strip after israel ordered the area fully evacuated. he described the mass exodus as nakba 2.0. >> perhaps today was one of the

worst case of my life. we spent years here. nakba and how that was and how they felt. to see with their own eyes. when we are all pushed to mass expulsion, to go from north and center gaza into southern gaza, and it was really horrible. people spent over 14 hours in influx of sea made of people just walking with their belongings, holding children, holding sick people. just walking and walking and walking under the sun, begging any passing car to take them. but most cars were filled to the brim.

just like nakba 2.0 happening in front of our eyes and we are actually a part of it. i don't know how and when we reached the south, but people kept coming. the streets were frantically busy. i saw so many people just taking the streets, like putting their children and their belongings in the streets and just sitting there because most left aimlessly with nowhere to go and no one to seek refuge to. on top of that, they talked about a safe humanitarian route and then they bombed two trucks filled with people. i don't know what is going to happen next. amy: that was oxfam's omar ghrieb speaking from gaza. many palestinians say there is no place for them to go. this is um muhammad al-laham, a grandmother, speaking from a hospital in khan younis next to her four-year-old granddaughter

who was the only member of her family to survive after israel bombed their home. >> they were sitting inside a house, my sons and his sons and one of their mothers-in-law were at his house. suddenly without warning, they bombed the house. 14 people were killed. only this girl, my granddaughter , survive. i hope she will get better and stay safe and heal. they their souls rest in peace. god is the one who gives patients to people. a guide keep me alive to take care of her and she will be a good person. she's the only person alive from her father's family who is martyred. also her brother, sister, mother, grandmother from her mother side, her uncles -- all of them, 14 people, all at once. amy: in israel, family members who have loved ones kidnapped by hamas held protests over the weekend demanding their safe return. israel now believes hamas is holding 199 hostages, a figure

that is higher than previous estimates. this is a farmer. his wife and three children were taken captive in gaza -- two gaza. >> my kids are over there, along with my wife, i hope in good health, and i what them to come back home in good health. if i could go to the center of gaza into the same thing, i would. i wish i could go there some day. we have to stop -- we got this right now as a sign from god just to stop the bloodshed. i asked hamas, which is holding my family, again, i hope in good health, please stop and the israeli government to stop and bring the women and children back. amy: we're joined now by omar shakir, israel and palestine director at human rights watch. he is joining us from chicago.

tell us the latest. this is difficult to make contact with people in gaza right now. what you understand is happening. israel is demanding the entire population of northern gaza, which is the main population center, including gaza city, must move south of khan younis. we heard there were bombing khan younis. talk about the situation now. looks we're witnessing a situation right now, talking about a population that for days has been that electricity, has been without water come has been without for large parts of it without internet, without food, that aid. hundreds of thousands have left northern gaza. if they are lucky, they have been able to get to relatives and family south. many do not have that privilege. making temporary accommodations. they under constant bombardment,

which seems more intense -- bombing of gaza taking place in the last 24 to 48 hours. there have been reports of people killed as they are taking a safe route out of gaza. the hospitals are operating on generators, which are running out of fuel. people are not resorting to water that is unfit for human consumption. there are people that have not been able to leave northern gaza because gaza's main hospital, people with disability, older people. they are terrified of what might come ahead. you have israeli officials who are signaling their intent to commit large-scale atrocities. so we really have a terrifying situation where people in guys are saying their goodbyes to the world. they are not sure whether or not they will make it to tomorrow morning. humanitarian situation come despite report, people are not being allowed -- have not been

allowed to leave. aid is still not getting in. electricity is still not getting in. there's no confirmed reports of water coming in. there is a desperate situation. amy: the secretary of state antony blinken has pushed them to turn the water back on but because the electricity is not on, it could not be pumped? >> exactly. in order for water, need electricity to allow the water to be pumped. you also need the ability -- for the plants to operate, need look transitive. the water was only being provided to a certain part of southern gaza, which is clearly part of the israeli's government strategy of trying to empty northern gaza of its population. right now people have no choice but to turn to water, which is unfit for human consumption,

which carries the risk for those who drink it of waterborne illnesses. among everything else, not having water, as the u.n. said water is life and gaza is running out of life. amy: you want israeli authorities are signaling their intent to commit mass atrocities. you cite a number of israeli officials making statements suggesting precisely that. can you document what you're saying, what they have been saying? >> absolutely. we have seen rhetoric from the israeli government that signals they hold the entire 2.2 million people of gaza responsible for the heinous attacks that took place on tober seven. give the president of israel isaac herzog who said clearly the entire nation of gaza is responsible, he notes the people there could have risen up to topple the hamas government. you have statements from israel 's energy minister who was

responsible for cutting the fuel, electricity, water, who similarly has talked about cutting off the last drop of water in the last battery into they are defeated. he is referring to hamas authorities but also evacuating entire populations. you have the statement from israel's defense minister that has gotten much attention about fighting human animals. you have israel's u.n. you and ambassador that spoke about, let's remember, hamas -- he neglects to mention nearly half of gaza's population are children who were not even alive to vote the last time there was an election. all of these statements should worry the international community because they're not happening in a vacuum. there happening as the israeli reduces entire neighborhoods to rubble as hundreds of children,

civilians have been killed in relentless bombardment. 6000 bombs dropped in at 25 by seven mile area. open air prisons. it is happening among the most intense barnett we have ever seen -- bombardment we've ever seen. the international community must act to stop this. there is a moment that we can try and stop this and we must do so before it is too late. amy: i want to play for our audience, israeli president isaac herzog climbing no one is innocent and the gaza strip, including civilians. >> we are working, operating militarily, calling to rules of international law, period stop unequivocally. it is an entire nation that is responsible. this rhetoric about civilians were not aware, that is

absolutely not true. they could have risen up. they could have fought against that people resume -- evil regime. we are at war. we are defending our homes. you're protecting their homes. that is the truth. when a nation protects its home, get fights. we will pride and break their backbone. amy: "we will fight until we break their backbone." i want to turn to your post on saturday where you wrote, "history teaches us that when there are clear calls to commit large-scale atrocities by parties capable of doing so and actions taken consistent with those words, they need to be taken seriously and stopped. that is where we are today in israel and palestine, dissent into darkness."

if you can take it from there? >> present herzog talks about breaking their back. they have broken the back of the people of gaza in way that is unprecedented. the statement the israeli has made they're complying with international law is pure fiction. the vital necessities as we have discussed, the entire civilian population, they have sealed the crossings. we know they have bombed in a way that began -- proudly boasted by the israeli air force on twitter of reducing entire blocks of neighborhoods to rubble. the israeli government -- again, what is striking, it is not meeting pushed back one would expect in a situation like this. it took days for europe and the united states even to reiterate basic platitudes about the need to comply with international humanitarian law. you are not seeing sufficient effort taken to one of the risks

to gaza's population. it is a situation that as we speak is deteriorating and not enough is being done to stop it. amy: i want to ask about white phosphorus. you tweeted -- human rights watch tweeted -- israel has denied this. what proof do you have of this, omar shakir? >> israel did not a 2009 when human rights watch documented and -- human rights watch verify this evidence, confirms. we took video footage to verify it was recorded when it was taken. we ran this by experts that

confirmed what was shown was white phosphorus. we interviewed people who lived in the communities where the white phosphorus was dropped in gaza, and their description of what it looked like and smelled like was consistent with the use of white phosphorus and its international followed up with her on reporting. -- amnesty international followed up with their own reporting. footage provided by these really government of some of the weapon systems being used we are talking about a weapon that is when dropped in civilian areas is unlawful because it can burn homes and other structures, cause lifelong suffering for the communities that live there. the fact the israeli government is using -- even when it is used for signaling or of securing the army come in can cause harm to

civilians and israel has readily available alternatives without the harm it causes to the civilian population. amy: omar shakir, i want to thank you for being with us israel and palestine director at , human rights watch. author of the landmark human 2021 rights watch report titled "a threshold crossed: israeli authorities and the crimes of apartheid and persecution." coming up, israeli historian, holocaust scholar raz segal. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. "a textbook case of genocide: israel has been explicit about what it's carrying out in gaza. why isn't the world listening?" that is the headline of a new piece in jewish currents by our next guest raz segal. he is an associate professor of holocaust and genocide studies at stockton university and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide. he joins us now from philadelphia. professor, welcome to democracy now! lay out your case. >> thank you for having me.

what we're seeing now in gaza is a case of genocide. we have to understand the u.n. convention on the prevention of punishment of the crime of genocide from 1948 requires we see special intent for genocide to happen. to quote the convention, intent to destroy the group as defined as racial, ethnic, religious, national as such that is collectively, not just individuals. what we heard is on full display by israeli politicians. october 7, we've heard israel's president. it is well-known what the defense ministry of gallant said on october 9 declaring a complete siege on gaza, cutting off water, food, fuel, stating we are fighting human animals and will act accordingly. he also said we will eliminate everything. we know the israeli army spokesperson acknowledged the

emphasis on damage and not on accuracy. we are seeing the special intent a full to play. this is not special intent to commit genocide. i don't know -- if this is not special intent to commit genocide, i don't know what is. if we look at the dropping of thousands of bombs and a couple of days, including phosphorus bombs, one of the most densely populated areas around the world, together with these proclamations of intent, this constitutes genocidal killing. israel i must say's perpetrating act number two and three that is causing seriously -- series oddly or mental harm and creating conditions designed to bring about the destruction of the group by cutting off water, food, supply of energy, bombing hospitals ordering evictions of

hospitals which the world health organization has declared to be a "death sentence." we're seeing the combination was special intent. this is a textbook case of genocide. amy: can you talk about the displacement? israel sang the entire northern gaza, now hundreds of thousands of people, have complied, must move south? the northern part of gaza is the most populated with gaza city. >> definitely. as is well known, this is an impossible order. it is impossible for people in hospitals, disabled, elderly people -- many palestinians refused to leave their homes because of their histories and their memories nakba of the nakba. it is an impossible order. it is another indication of the intent to destroy, the intent to

commit genocide and worthwhile to emphasize the defense ministry of gallant, the new term he coined, complete siege. it seems like a completely new term that really takes what was already a 17-your siege on gaza, the longest in modern history, which was already a clear violation of international humanitarian law, takes this each and turns it into a complete siege. which signals the turn to the genocidal destruction that we are seeing, including with the eviction order. it is also worthwhile to try to explain i think why israel is so explicit in its declaration. we have heard israel's president talk about evil and heard biden 's use of the word evil. eu leaders describe the hamas as evil. the hamas attack was horrendous

war crimes rightly shock many israelis and many people around the world. but evil is not a term to describe them, it is a term to demonize and conceptualize and really enhance -- that they are fighting nazis. naftali bennett said that directly in an interview yesterday, we are fightingnazis. we see many other indications. if we are fighting nazis, then every thing is permissible. amy: actually want to go to the former prime minister naftali bennett who is currently in the israeli army. this is from a few days ago where he exploded at the sky news anchor kamali melbourne during an interview thursday when melbourne pressed him on his was attacks on palestinian civilians. this is a part of what he said.

>> what about those palestinians in hospital who are on life support and babies in incubators whose life support and incubator will have to be turned off because the israelis have cut the power to gaza? >> are you seriously keep on asking me about palestinian civilians? what's -- what's wrong with you? have you not seen what happened? we're fighting nazis. we don't target them. now, the world can come and bring them anything they want, if you want to bring them electricity. i'm not going to feed electricity or water to my enemies. if anyone else wants, that's fine. we're not responsible for them. >> but this is the point -- >> but you keep on -- i want to tell you -- >> no, no, mr. bennett, this is the point. >> no. no, listen. >> listen. >> you listen to me right now. >> no, no, i understand. we're trying to have a conversation here. >> i've heard a lot of you. >> listen, this is my program. let me finish. we have already distinguished between --

>> shame on you. >> it's nothing about shame. amy: that is naftali bennett. professor, you're an israeli historian. this is what you're talking about when he uses the nazi analogy and also when he says, are you seriously talking about palestinian civilians? your response? >> that is exactly -- it is important to understand this context of fighting nazis, the idea of using the memory in this way. there is a broad context, long history in the shameful use of the holocaust memory which politicians use.

it has allowed also to seek israel somehow a sectional -- exceptional. the truth is all perpetrators of genocide see their victims is dangerous, as vicious, inhuman. that is how the nazis saw the jews and today israelis see the palestinians. the lessons i've the holocaust were never meant to question a cyber protect groups, especially stateless and defenseless groups, groups under military occupation and siege. the lessons of the holocaust are now very urgent. we need to center the voices of those facing state violence and genocide and moved to prevention us fast as possible. to do that, we need to recognize what is going on, what is unfolding and front of her eyes

which is a textbook case of genocide. amy: raz segal is associate professor of holocaust and genocide studies at stockton university and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide. he is an israeli historian. his new article for jewish currents is titled "a textbook case of genocide: israel has been explicit about what it's carrying out in gaza. why isn't the world listening?" back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on friday, an israeli shell reportedly landed among a group of international journalists covering clashes near lebanon's border with israel, killing a 37-year-old reuters videographer issam abdallah who was part of a reuters crew that was providing a live video signal. six others were injured in the strike, including reporters for agence france-presse and al jazeera. the lebanese army said in a statement that israeli troops fired the shell that struck the journalists. lebanon's foreign ministry has requested that a complaint be filed by beirut's mission to the united nations over what it called a "flagrant violation and a crime against freedom of opinion and press." the israel defense forces said

the incident is being looked into. reuters says it is "urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region and supporting issam's family and colleagues." just before the show, i spoke with one of issam's closest friends lama al-airan, an , international producer for vice news in beirut, lebanon, and asked her to describe what happened. >> well, since the bombing of gaza began, there's been a lot of tensions and flareups in the south of lebanon between israel and different groups there. he was one of the many journalists who went to travel what was -- to cover what was happening there. he was in a group of journalists who were standing up front of the israeli border, clearly marked as press, wearing their jackets and helmets and doing live positions. they were not embedded with any sort of group.

they were there to tell the story of what was happening in the south. he even posted a selfie, maybe like the minutes before it took place, just showing what was happening. he was wearing his jacket and helmet. he was speaking to journalists there and watching a reuters live feed. that cover the moment they were hit. two israeli strikes hit them. one of them, porcelain, killed our friend and beloved your list issam and injured six others, including one who still undergoing surgery at the moment. amy: who did they work for? >> they were from the afp, reuters, al jazeera. al jazeera has been there for many days from this position. nobody thought they were unsafe.

as somebody used to, reckless, they would say i'm worried about you. he has been to many conflict zones. he always put safety of colleagues and himself even before this story. that is why many of his colleagues, his friends think they were targeted because there were no hezbollah members or members of armed groups in the area. it was just a group of journalists. amy: where to the airstrike come from? where exactly did it hit? >> it came from the direction of israel because they were standing right in front of the border. there are many investigations into this, but from eyewitnesses who were there, including his colleagues that survived the attacks, the lebanese army has also made a statement saying it came from the direction of israel, that it was an israeli strike.

the lebanese prime ministers had the same thing. when the israeli officials were asked about this, they haven't taken any responsibility yet. these really ambassador to the united nations even was a little -- the israeli ambassador to the united nations was even a little callous about it. it came, as eyewitnesses say and many official reports came from israel, but it is very unlikely there will be any accountability. amy: did issa die immediately? >>'s seems from the video that was published online that he did die immediately. you can hear other colleagues screaming in the background saying, "my legs, my legs, i can't feel my legs." yet people from afp who immediately ran to help a

colleague put attorney get over her leg. with the second strike came -- not sure which strike killed issam. unfortunate, i've been looking for his voice, especially merely after the attack and are to figure out -- i could not hear his voice. i think it was an immediate death. amy: how did you learn? >> i read on twitter that journalists had been injured and i neatly started to call his friends. they were also trying to find out more information. i kept calling his phone and usually during any big incidents that happened in the country like that rude explosion, he denied my phone call. but this is the first time i did not get a declined phone call or him picking up saying, i'm busy but i'm ok.

unfortunately i -- i just felt it was him that passed away. we knew he was with her other journalists that day. it was a reuters life you that caught the moment of impact which he was running with two other colleagues. amy: when was the last time you saw him? >> i was just with issam and a group of his friends two days before he passed away in the day before he traveled to the south. he was telling me he is going to cover these events but was also mentioning how broken up he was about the images coming out the gaza strip and also how upset he was by the coverage of many western media outlets. he also told a friend earlier -- he called a friend earlier last week and he was worried about

safety concerns along the border. what he feared most was if he was to pass away, nobody would name his killer. amy: can you tell us about the funeral? >> the funeral was extremely sad. it took place south lebanon. it was among the trees he loved so much. i know he loved lebanon very much. he loved the south very much. it took place in his hometown. it had seen a lot of war and destruction previously. it was under israeli occupation before it was liberated in 2000.

there's a lot of symbolism there. a lot of officials from many different political parties and many journalist friends of his attended. he was buried with his press jacket and on top of his great, they lined his grave with his cameras. amy: why did he become a journalist? >> i think the reason why issam became a journalist is to tell stories from this region he cared about so much that he thinks is very misunderstood by western media. he worked for reuters for a very long time covering many different stories. he cover the egyptian revolution , which i know he was very proud of. he covered stories from lebanon. after the explosion, was one of the first journalists to interview injured people. he always took risks to make

sure people's voices got out there. he cover the war in ukraine. he was interviewing grieving mothers. he was in turkey after the earthquake for weeks interviewing people. he was there when they were pulling people out from under the rubble. he was there covering -- he always wanted to show humanity of people's suffering. amy: and why had he gone to the border that day with the other journalists? >> he went to the border that day because there was back and forth fire between israel and different armed groups in lebanon, because of what was happening in gaza. tensions and flareups started to

happen at the border. that was his job. his job was to go and tell people what was happening. amy: i'm talking to you today right before you're going to another funeral for issam? >> yes. he was extremely loved. it is very common in muslim and arab cultures to go and spend the first week with the family. so that is what we are going to be doing to try to give as much support as possible. the family members, the journalist who have to mourn their colleagues but keep working, reporting on what is happening in gaza, what is happening inside lebanon and also preparing for the real possibility there could be another war here. amy: finally, lama, your sister wrote a piece about your family and your grandfather buying land in gaza, investing his life

savings and about what is happened to your own family in this last week in gaza. could you tell us about that? >> of course. i have been sending condolences this week. friends from around the world are having to send me condolences. my mother lost 11 of her extended family members in a single airstrike on her family home inside gaza. that was very difficult on my mother and on our family. i did not know these family members very well, but it was still extremely heartbreaking to see videos of people who share our last name on the internet pulling a dead children from the rubble and injured people amongst the people that were

killed was a six-month-old baby. amy: that was lama al-airan, an international producer for vice news in beirut, speaking about her close friend issam abdallah, a reuters videographer who was killed friday when an israeli airstrike. the strike injured six others as well. in the first week of fighting in gaza, the committee to protect journalists reports at least 12 journalists have been killed and more are missing and injured. we are joined now by cpj's middle east and north africa program coordinator sherif mansour. welcome back to democracy now! in these last few minutes we have, we have heard the story of issam, tell us what you understand has happened to journalists. he was on israel have a lebanon border. israel says they are looking into it. what is happening in gaza? >> this is the deadliest time for journalists in gaza.

one of the highest holes for journalists covering the conflict since 1992. since 2001, you published stories of those who have been killed over a year covering [indiscernible] many were in gaza before the start of this war. right now we're looking at least 10 palestinian journalists. [indiscernible] at least one or two journalists from israel have been killed. have been missing since october 7. we are still investigating a lot of damages to facilities.

[indiscernible] many were injured, many lost their homes. many cannot access the outside world because of the lack of internet. amy: what are the international laws and conventions and place to safeguard journalists and hold those responsible for the killings? >> we call on israel to investigate what happened to issam. we support the u.n. to make an investigation and call on the u.n. security council to make sure journalists -- what is happening diplomatically. amy: last week three were held

at gunpoint and tel aviv. what do you know about this situation? >> forsha, censorship is widespread, not just covering gaza. in israel, we've seen reports of a lot of journalists [indiscernible] journalists told us they have received threats. along with the misinformation that has been spread. we saw the israeli government now making to crease to censor --decrees to censor. [indiscernible] amy: i want to ask on friday, the u.s. use organization reported "msnbc is quietly taken

three of its muslim broadcasters out of the anchors chair since hamas attack last saturday amidst america's wave of sympathy for israeli terror victims. the article details how the three have all seen the roles reduced over the past week even though the three have some of the deepest knowledge of the region at the network." your final comment on this? >> journalists must provide accurate, independent account of what is happening, including in time of crisis. we rely on them so the misinformation we see just not fuel the conflict. we rely on them so we know the implication of all the warring parties. we rely on them to report human rights violations and war crimes.

we call -- so reporters can do their jobs. america sherif mansour is the middle east and north africa program coordinator for the committee to protect journalists. happy birthday to juan gonzález and miguel noguiera!

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