Sana'a: The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor strongly condemned the Israeli army's targeting of a media center in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, which resulted in the deaths and injuries of journalists and media staff, describing it as a blatant violation of international law.
According to Yemen News Agency, the center stated in a statement that this incident is part of a systematic policy pursued by Israel aimed at silencing journalistic work, suppressing information and facts, and covering up its violations by committing repeated crimes against journalists and their media institutions in the region.
The Euro-Mediterranean Monitor noted that the Israeli airstrikes targeted the offices of the newspapers '26 September' and 'Al-Yemen' within a media center located in the Al-Tahrir district, a densely populated residential area adjacent to the Old City of Sana'a, which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The targeting occurred as part of intensive Israeli attacks on several sites in Sana'a and Al-Jawf, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries.
The statement highlighted that the local newspaper '26 September' reported the deaths of 31 journalists and injuries to 22 others from its staff in the attack on its office. Similarly, a statement from the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate confirmed that several journalists were killed or injured in the Israeli strike.
According to the syndicate's statement, the Israeli army killed journalists Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, Abbas Al-Dailami, Youssef Shams Al-Din, Abdullah Mahdi Al-Bahri, Mohammed Al-'Ameesi, Abdullah Al-Harazi, Murad Halboob Al-Faqih, Ali Naji Saeed Al-Shara'i, Ali Mohammed Al-Aqel, and Jamal Al-'Adi.
In a briefing to the Euro-Med Monitor team, Yemeni lawyer Abdul Basat Ghazi stated that their office, located in the heart of Sana'a's Al-Tahrir district, suffered partial destruction from the airstrike. Shrapnel pierced the office walls in three locations, creating large openings, and all windows were shattered.
Ghazi added that the bombing resulted in the deaths of 31 journalists and a child, the collapse of neighboring houses, injuries to several passersby on Al-Qiyada Street, and severe damage to the National Museum, an important historical landmark.
The Euro-Mediterranean Monitor emphasized that the Israeli army's claim of targeting media offices in Yemen due to their alleged use by the Ansar Allah group for military purposes does not constitute any legal justification for the attack. The targeted media office housed civilians and journalists who enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law and can only be lawfully targeted if directly participating in hostilities, and only for the duration of such participation.
The monitor stressed that journalistic activity does not constitute direct participation in hostilities and therefore does not remove the protection afforded to civilians. Consequently, the attack represents a grave and blatant violation of international humanitarian law that cannot be justified.
It further affirmed that even if a military justification existed, the attack would remain unlawful, as it fails to meet the criteria of humanity, proportionality, and military necessity, and shows no regard for the obligation to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians.
Targeting a media office within a densely populated residential area, near globally recognized heritage sites, cannot be justified under international humanitarian law and demonstrates clear disregard for legal constraints on parties to the conflict, undermining the principle of proportionality, which is a cornerstone of international law.
The monitor noted that such attacks, whether in the occupied Palestinian territories, Yemen, or Lebanon, reflect a systematic policy aimed at intimidating and deterring anyone reporting news or documenting events, depriving victims of their voice, and denying the international community access to independent information.
The Euro-Mediterranean Monitor called on all countries to exert serious pressure on Israel to halt its repeated crimes against journalists and media institutions, aimed at silencing independent voices, suppressing facts, and covering up violations.
It urged the international community to take immediate and practical measures, including activating international accountability mechanisms, imposing economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel for its systematic and serious violations of international law. Measures could include banning the export or purchase of weapons or dual-use products, suspending all forms of political, financial, and military support, freezing the assets of officials involved in these crimes, imposing travel bans, suspending trade privileges and bilateral agreements that provide Israel with economic advantages enabling the continuation of its crimes.