Their names were Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Samir Shaath, and Anas Ghanem. They were Palestinian journalists. On January 21, they were filming for an Egyptian government humanitarian initiative in the central Gaza town of Zahraa when an Israeli airstrike hit their car. The vehicle was clearly marked with the Egyptian Committee’s logo. They were killed.

At least 11 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza that day, according to AP News. The three journalists were among them — targeted, in a marked press vehicle, while documenting humanitarian work.

See full coverage: Three journalists among 11 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza

The same day these three journalists were killed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes — accepted a position on President Trump’s newly announced “Board of Peace,” which Trump says will oversee Gaza’s future governance. The juxtaposition is not subtle. The man overseeing a campaign that has killed more journalists than any other conflict in modern recorded history is now being handed a seat at the table to determine what comes next for the people he has been killing.

The numbers tell a story that must not be reduced to statistics. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Israel was the top killer of journalists in the world in 2025 — for the third consecutive year. Twenty-nine Palestinian reporters were killed by Israeli forces during the year. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate reports that more than 255 journalists have been killed in Gaza total, representing 18 percent of the entire journalist population in the Strip. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls this the deadliest period for the press since it began keeping records in 1992.

Killing journalists is not a side effect of war. It is a strategy. Fewer reporters means fewer witnesses. Fewer witnesses means fewer records. Fewer records means less accountability. The attack on Qashta, Shaath, and Ghanem — in a marked vehicle, on a humanitarian mission — fits a documented pattern of targeting press.

United Voices is publishing their names because they deserve to be known. We are calling on the international community to investigate and prosecute those responsible for this strike under international law. And we are stating plainly what the evidence demands: a man credibly accused of war crimes by the ICC has no legitimate place on any board claiming to pursue peace. Netanyahu belongs before a court — not at a policy table deciding the fate of the people his government has spent years trying to erase.