Category World News

The Israeli military’s killing of five Palestinian journalists, including an Al Jazeera cameraman, in Gaza has caused global condemnation, with Al Jazeera Media Network accusing Israel of “assassinating journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth”.

The Israeli military bombed Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Monday, killing five journalists, including Al Jazeera photographer Mohammad Salama.

In total, 20 people were killed in a double-tap strike – one missile hitting first, then another moments later as rescue workers and journalists arrived – on southern Gaza’s main medical facility. The attack comes as Israel has intensified its offensive to seize Gaza City, the main urban centre in the enclave of 2.3 million people, despite a famine being declared last week.

Al Jazeera condemned the attack as “a clear intent to bury the truth”.

Here are some reactions to the latest slaughter of media workers in the enclave:

In a statement on Monday, Al Jazeera said it condemns “this horrific crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, who have directly targeted and assassinated journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth”.

“The blood of our martyred journalists in Gaza has not yet dried before the Israeli occupation forces committed another crime against Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammad Salama, together with three other photojournalists,” the network said, referring to Israel’s killing barely two weeks prior of renowned Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, who had become the voice of Gaza for his extensive reporting from the enclave.

Al Jazeera called the attack a violation of international norms and laws, “amounting to war crimes”.

“Despite relentless targeting, Al Jazeera remains resolute in providing live coverage of the Israeli genocide in Gaza for the past 23 months, with occupation authorities barring international media outlets from entering to report on the war,” it added.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation

The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have been holding an extraordinary meeting in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah to discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people,

The OIC condemned killing of journalists and media professionals by the Israeli army in Gaza as “war crime” and an “assault on press freedom”.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

The PFLP,  a left-wing Palestinian faction founded in 1967, called the attack proof of “the absolute brutality and sadism of the [Israeli] occupation”.

It held Israel and its allies responsible, saying supporters led by the US administration are “fully responsible for this organised crime”.

The PFLP is the second-largest group in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) after Fatah.

Turkiye

Ankara has denounced Israel’s latest strikes on Gaza as “another war crime”.

“Press freedom and human values have once again been targeted, under the shadow of genocide, amidst the anguished cries of the innocent,” Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkey’s presidential communications directorate, said in a post on X.

“Israel, which continues its atrocities without regard for any humanitarian or legal principles, is under the illusion that it can prevent the truth from being revealed through its systematic attacks on journalists.”

United Kingdom

Britain’s Foreign Minister David Lammy expressed horror at Israel’s latest attack.

“Horrified by Israel’s attack on Nasser hospital. Civilians, healthcare workers and journalists must be protected. We need an immediate ceasefire,” Lammy wrote in a post on X.

Spain

The Spanish foreign ministry issued a statement decrying Israel’s latest strike as a flagrant violation of humanitarian law.

“The Spanish government condemns the Israeli attack on the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of four journalists and innocent civilians,” the ministry said.

“We reiterate that specially protected sites cannot be targeted. This is a flagrant and unacceptable violation of international humanitarian law, which must be investigated,” it said.

The statement stressed the importance of special protection for journalists and reaffirmed Spain’s “full commitment” to the right of access to information.

Germany

Germany said it was “shocked by the killing of several journalists, rescue workers, and other civilians” in Israeli airstrikes on the Nasser Hospital.

“This attack must be investigated,” the foreign ministry said on X, also calling on Israel to “allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza”.

France

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Israel’s latest strikes were “intolerable”.

“Civilians and journalists must be protected under all circumstances. The media must be able to carry out their mission freely and independently to cover the reality of the conflict,” Macron said in a post on X. “Reducing a population to famine is a crime that must stop immediately,” he added.

Committee to Protect Journalists

CPJ has condemned the Israeli attack, calling for the international community to hold Israel accountable for its “continued unlawful attacks on the press”.

In a statement, CPJ’s Regional Director Sara Qudah said Israel’s killing of journalists in the enclave continues while “the world watches and fails to act firmly on the most horrific attacks the press has ever faced in recent history.

“These murders must end now. The perpetrators must no longer be allowed to act with impunity,” Qudah said.

Foreign Press Association

The association, which represents international media working in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, says it is “outraged and in shock” after the attack.

In a statement, the group demanded “an immediate explanation” from the Israeli army and the Israeli prime minister’s office.

“We call on Israel once and for all to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists,” it added.

“This must be a watershed moment. We appeal to international leaders: Do everything you can to protect our colleagues. We cannot do it ourselves.”

Reporters Without Borders

The press organisation said it “fiercely condemns” the killings of the journalists.

“How far will the Israeli armed forces go in their gradual effort to eliminate information coming from Gaza? How long will they continue to defy international humanitarian law?” RSF’s Director General Thibaut Bruttin said in a statement.

“RSF calls for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to ensure [that UN Resolution 2222] is finally respected, and that concrete measures are taken to end impunity for crimes against journalists, protect Palestinian journalists, and open access to the Gaza Strip to all reporters.”

Reuters

In a statement, a Reuters spokesperson said the agency is “devastated to learn of the death of Reuters contractor Hussam al-Masri and injuries to another of our contractors, Hatem Khaled, in Israeli strikes on the Nasser Hospital in Gaza today”.

The spokesperson said Reuters is “urgently seeking more information” about the attack and has “asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem”.

United Nations Secretary-General

Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the killing of Palestinians in Israeli strikes that struck Nasser Hospital and called for a prompt, impartial investigation, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

“The Secretary-General recalls that civilians, including medical personnel and journalists, must be respected and protected at all times. He calls for a prompt, impartial investigation into these killings,” Dujarric told reporters.

UN envoy Francesca Albanese

“Rescuers killed in line of duty. Scenes like this unfold every moment in Gaza, often unseen, largely undocumented,” said Albanese – the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories – in a post on X.

“I beg states: how much more must be witnessed before you act to stop this carnage? Break the blockade. Impose an Arms Embargo. Impose Sanctions,” she wrote.

United Nations rights office

“The killing of journalists in Gaza should shock the world – not into stunned silence but into action, demanding accountability and justice,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement, insisting: “Journalists are not a target. Hospitals are not a target.”

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini

Lazzarini has called for immediate protection for journalists, health professionals and aid workers in Gaza after the latest deadly hospital strike.

In a post on X, Lazzarini expressed shock at what he called the “silencing [of] the last remaining voices reporting about children dying silently and famine” in Gaza.

He urged immediate action to end the famine by lifting restrictions on aid entering the enclave and ensuring protection for reporters and humanitarian and health workers.

The President Donald Trump administration has detained Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an already wrongfully deported Maryland man, and he is currently facing another potential and immediate deportation, this time to Uganda.

A blanket court order automatically halts the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Abrego Garcia and other immigrants who are contesting their detention despite his new detention on Monday.

The order, which extends the immigrant’s right to be removed from the US until 16:00 (20:00 GMT), on the second business day after their habeas corpus petition is filed, covers any immigrant seeking review of their detention in a Maryland federal court. The administration filed a lawsuit against the standard order in June against all 15 federal judges in Maryland.

In what the man’s legal team describes as a “vindictiveness” by Trump’s administration, immigration officials in the US say they intend to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda, according to a court filing on Saturday.

The east African nation where US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to deport him recently reached a deal to accept some deportees from the US.

According to the court filing, Abrego Garcia was given the idea after he declined to accept a deportation to Costa Rica while he stayed in jail and pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges.

Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old Salvadoran national and construction worker, turned himself in at a rally before saying, “God is with us, and God will never leave us,” he said in a translator-speaking manner. God will bring justice to the injustices that we are experiencing.

On Monday, Abrego Garcia entered ICE’s offices in a downtown building. His wife, who was tears in her eyes when she emerged without him a short while later, was also present.

Abrego Garcia was being deported, according to Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in a post on X.

Shortly after his arrest, Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, claimed a lawsuit was being filed in a Maryland federal district court asking for an order to prevent his deportation. He said, “I anticipate there will be a status conference very soon, and we will request an interim order that he not be deported, pending his due process rights to contest deportation to any particular country.”

Trump’s hardline immigration policies are portrayed in the public eye.

Abrego Garcia, who has an American wife and two children, has resided in Maryland for years under a protected legal status until 2019, when a judge ordered him to avoid deportation because he could suffer harm in his home country.

As part of Trump’s crackdown on refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers in the US, he then rose to the top of the list of cases involving more than 200 people who were sent to the notorious CECOT megaprison in El Salvador. His case continues to be a significant turning point for the Trump administration’s anti-immigration crackdown.

Lawyers for the Department of Justice acknowledged that an “administrative error” had led to the Salvadoran citizen’s deportation in error.

According to his attorneys, Abrego Garcia was brutally beaten and subjected to psychological torture in the El Salvadoran prison.

In court documents that were filed in Abrego Garcia’s civil lawsuit against the Trump administration in June, which provided a detailed account of his experiences following his first deportation, the alleged abuse was detailed.

Abrego Garcia, who denies any wrongdoing, is accused of being a part of the smuggling of undocumented refugees and migrants into the US between 2016 and early this year. He is also accused of being involved in this.

In January 2027, his human smuggling trial is scheduled to start.

The Trump administration has claimed that Abrego Garcia is a threat to the neighborhood and an MS-13 gang member, and that it is trying to deport him months before his trial is scheduled in Tennessee.

He has denied the gang charge, entered a not-guilty plea to smuggling charges, and requested that the case be dismissed due to vindictive prosecution.

Friday afternoon, Abrego Garcia was released from a Tennessee jail. He went back to his Maryland family.

According to a statement from a spokesman for the Justice Department, Chad Gilmartin outlined how Abrego Garcia presents a “clear danger” and that he has the option of facing a trial.

According to the military, National Guard troops are now carrying weapons while they are en route to Washington, DC, the capital of the country, according to a statement released on Sunday.

The deployment, which began on August 11, 2025, following Trump’s executive order declaring a crime emergency, has been met with protests and concern from residents. The president has up to 30 days in place to manage policing in the capital under the law.

Up to 1,700 National Guard members are scheduled to mobilize in 19 states in the upcoming weeks to support President Trump’s anti-immigration and crime crackdown, according to Pentagon officials.

What is the National Guard?

In the US, the National Guard is a reserve military force that can be called upon to perform active duty. It supports military operations abroad and responds to domestic emergencies like natural disasters and civil unrest.

It has two branches, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard, with roughly 431, 000 members, making it the second-largest branch of the US military.

It consists of part-time airmen and soldiers who work as civilians and work one weekend a month.

How does the National Guard differ from the US military?

One of the nation’s oldest military organizations, the National Guard, dates back to 1636, which predates the US’s founding in 1776.

It evolved from colonial militias, which were established to defend nearby communities, into the modern-day National Guard structure.

Each US state and territory – as well as Washington, DC – has its own National Guard unit. These units serve both federal and state governments in a dual capacity.

The regular US military, in contrast, is a full-time federal force with active-duty personnel who work as commanders-chief for the president while conducting operations both domestically and internationally.

Who can deploy the National Guard?

The governor of a state typically orders deployments to deal with local emergencies, such as natural disasters, civil unrest, or public health crises, but the president or state governors can call on the National Guard.

Even without a governor’s request, the president can federalise the National Guard for national missions. This was the first federalization of a state without a governor’s approval since the Watts riots of 1965, which occurred earlier this year in Los Angeles despite the objections of California’s governor, Governor Gavin Newsom.

What are the possible uses for the National Guard?

The National Guard can be deployed for a wide range of domestic and federal missions, from disaster relief at home to operations abroad, including:

missions at home:

• Disaster relief (hurricanes, floods, wildfires, etc.)
• Support during civil unrest or local emergencies
• logistical, medical, and search and rescue support

Federal responsibilities:

• Reinforce active-duty forces during national crises
• deployment for combat or peacekeeping missions overseas
• support domestic and international federal military operations

When previously has the National Guard been deployed?

The National Guard has been activated hundreds, if not thousands, of times at the state level for local and regional crises throughout its long history and has been federally mobilized dozens of times for US conflicts and national emergencies.

Among the most notable National Guard actions in recent US history are:

Little Rock integration (1957) – Landmark civil rights moment with federal vs state standoff

The “Little Rock Nine” were the first African American students to attempt to enter an all-white school in Arkansas in 1957, sparking the Little Rock Integration Crisis. The governor of the state used the National Guard to obstruct them, prompting President Dwight Eisenhower to federalize the National Guard and dispatch federal troops, causing a defining conflict between state resistance and federal authority over school desegregation.

Ole Miss Integration (1962) – Civil rights movement

James Meredith, the first African American student, attempted to enroll at the University of Mississippi in 1962, sparking violent riots. President John F Kennedy sent federal troops and federalised the Mississippi National Guard to enforce his admission, marking a major milestone in the US civil rights movement.

Voting Rights Act Pivotal in Selma to Montgomery marches (1965)

Civil rights activists in Montgomery, Alabama demanded African Americans’ right to vote in a march that lasted from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. After violent attacks on demonstrators during “Bloody Sunday”, President Lyndon B Johnson federalised the Alabama National Guard to protect marchers. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was directly impacted by the marches because they had had a transformative impact.

Detroit riots (1967) – Massive urban unrest with widespread destruction

After a police raid on an unlicensed bar, riots broke out in Detroit, Michigan, in July 1967. 43 people were killed and hundreds were injured as a result of the unrest quickly deteriorated into citywide violence, looting, and arson. The Michigan National Guard was deployed alongside federal troops to restore order, marking one of the deadliest and most destructive urban uprisings in US history.

National attention was given to the shooting at Kent State in 1970, with four students killed.

In May 1970, during protests against the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Ohio, the National Guard opened fire on unarmed students, killing four and wounding nine. The anti-war movement’s pivotal moment was the Kent State shooting, which also served as a reminder of how divided American society is today.

Rodney King riots (1992) – Massive civil unrest and destruction

In April 1992, following the acquittal of police officers filmed beating Rodney King, Los Angeles, California erupted in days of unrest marked by arson, looting and violence. One of the largest civil unrests in recent US history occurred when the National Guard was deployed alongside federal troops to restore order.

Ferguson protests (2014) – National Guard deployed following unrest

Following the police killing of Michael Brown, protests erupted in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. In a time of high levels of hostility and demonstrations, local authorities were helped by National Guard units in preventing unrest and ensuring public safety.

Baltimore protests (2015) – National Guard deployed following civil unrest

Following Freddie Gray’s passing while being held by police in Baltimore, Maryland, the National Guard was dispatched there in 2015. Guard units assisted local authorities in preventing unrest, preserving order, and preventing protests in the city.

Katrina (2005): A fatal natural disaster

The National Guard sent relief efforts to areas of Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina, one of the most deadly and destructive hurricanes ever to hit the country. Guard units helped with rescue operations, evacuations, and relief efforts during the widespread devastation.

2020 COVID-19 pandemic: Nationwide deployment for health emergencies

In 2020, National Guard units were deployed across the US to assist with the COVID-19 pandemic, providing support for testing, vaccination and medical logistics.

George Floyd protests (2020) – Nationwide deployment in response to unrest

In response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was taken into police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, National Guard units were deployed across the US in 2020 to assist local authorities during protests.

Capitol riots (2021) – Federal deployment

Following Trump’s supporters’ attempted insurrection at the US Capitol after he lost the 2020 US presidential election to Joe Biden, National Guard units were dispatched to Washington, DC, in January 2021. Guard personnel assisted federal authorities in securing the Capitol, restoring order, and protecting lawmakers and staff during the attack.