TEHRAN – Iran’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the Israeli regime’s “war crime” in killing Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, saying a press badge offers no protection against those seeking to silence witnesses to their atrocities.

“A press badge is no shield against genocidal war criminals who fear the world witnessing their atrocities,” ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei wrote Monday on X.

According to Baghaei, five members of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau were killed “in cold blood” when Israeli forces targeted their tent in Gaza City on Sunday night. He said the strike came amid the ongoing “slaughter, starvation, and targeting” of Palestinians, including through the Israeli-American “food traps.”

“Strong condemnation is the bare minimum for any decent human being,” he added, “but the world must act immediately to stop this harrowing genocide and hold the criminals accountable. Indifference and inaction are complicity in Israel’s crimes.”

Speaking later at his weekly press briefing, Baghaei reiterated Iran’s “strongest possible” condemnation of the attack.

“Attacking journalists and media outlets is never permissible under any circumstances,” he said. “In wartime, such an attack is unequivocally considered a war crime.”

He also criticized the Israeli cabinet’s recent approval of a plan to occupy Gaza under the pretext of “liberating” it from Hamas.

“It was clear from the outset that the Israeli regime intends to seize Gaza and the West Bank, erasing Palestine as a country, an identity, and a people,” Baghaei said.

He called on the international community to take “credible and urgent” steps to halt Israel’s “genocidal measures” in Gaza and to prosecute those responsible.

The Al Jazeera team — journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, along with cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa — was sheltering in a designated press tent at al-Shifa Hospital when the Israeli strike hit. All five were killed.

A sixth journalist, Mohammad al-Khaldi, was also killed in the same strike outside the hospital, Reuters reported, citing medical staff.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says at least 186 journalists have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza on October 7, 2023. Authorities in Gaza put the toll far higher, reporting that nearly 270 journalists and media workers have been killed during the conflict.