EU condemns Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza

The European Union condemned the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

"The EU condemns the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in an (Israeli military) air strike outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, including the Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif," she said after EU foreign ministers discussed the war in virtual talks.

The EU took note of Israel's allegations against Sharif of heading a Hamas "terrorist cell", Kallas said, "but there is a need in these cases to provide clear evidence, in the respect of rule of law, to avoid targeting of journalists".

Sharif himself and Al Jazeera previously refused the accusations, and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in July called for his protection following online posts by an Israeli military spokesman.

The CPJ had accused Israel of a "pattern" of labelling journalists militants "without providing credible evidence" and reminded that "international law is clear that active combatants are the only justified targets in a war setting."