The National Interest Foundation Newsletter

Issue 297, August 15, 2025

Welcome to our NIF Newsletter. In this week’s edition, we examine the murder of six journalists in Gaza and the Israeli army’s repeated targeting of journalists, while also looking into the Trump-Putin summit and the chances for peace without Ukraine at the table.

Editor: Bassam Tarbush

The Murder of Six Journalists in Gaza and the Israeli Army’s Repeated Targeting of Journalists

The deliberate killings are part of a systematic attempt to suppress independent reporting documenting the array of Israeli war crimes and human rights violations in Gaza. (Photo from AP)

Earlier this week on Sunday, Israeli forces carried out the targeted assassination of six journalists in an attack on a media tent outside of the main gate of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, including prominent Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif and several of his colleagues. The murders have elicited global outrage, with press freedom organizations stating that they are appalled by Israel’s repeated and longstanding pattern of brazenly targeting and killing journalists – with the Israeli army going so far as to even unashamedly take credit for this latest assassination in an official military statement. For impartial observers, it is undeniable that actions like these are part of a systematic effort to suppress and deter those documenting the truth of what is taking place on the ground in Gaza. During the course of the conflict, Israel has barred international media and news outlets from reporting in the enclave, and as a result, the world has relied on local Gaza-based Palestinian reporters for factual coverage – with these individuals valiantly risking their well-being and lives to do so. Thus, Israel’s latest intentional murder of journalists is clearly aimed at silencing some of the last remaining voices inside Gaza who have shed light on the unimaginable scale of atrocities being committed there.

To many analysts, the timing of this is a calculated move as well, given Israel’s plans to initiate a full-scale attack and military takeover of Gaza despite widespread denunciation. The assassination of Al-Sharif and his colleagues comes at a time when Israel is seeking to implement this universally condemned plan and has therefore been called out as a desperate attempt to prevent the exposure of further war crimes and human rights violations in Gaza. A host of entities have drawn attention to the obvious connection between the two, highlighting that it is no coincidence that the killing of the journalists coincides with the announcement of the Gaza takeover plan. Furthermore, Israel’s shameful tactic of trying to smear journalists as being connected to militant groups without any credible evidence has also been heavily criticized. Al-Sharif had long been the subject of an Israeli smear campaign, to the point where he had feared the potential of being targeted and killed. This prompted him to appeal to human rights activists and global media outlets for the protection of journalists like himself in Gaza, particularly as public incitements from Israeli military officials became more frequent due to continued on-air coverage documenting their atrocities. Regrettably, these unfounded claims against Al-Sharif and others are part of a reprehensible long used Israeli practice of labeling journalists as militants in an effort to try and justify their targeting of them.

Even prior to this latest targeted assassination, press freedom advocates have documented how the Gaza War has been by far the single deadliest conflict for journalists. According to researchers, more journalists have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began than in the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan combined. In total, nearly 270 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces during the course of the less than two-year-long war. All of this demonstrates the blatant systematic targeting and killing of journalists – which Israel has gone as far as openly admitting with the murder of Al-Sharif and his colleagues. As defenders of press freedom and human rights have lamented and pointed out, the Israeli military feels that it can do this with impunity because none of its other unprecedented number of attacks on journalists have had any consequences to deter these repeated flagrant violations of international law and war crimes.

While there has been significant global outrage at this most recent Israeli killing of journalists, this must be combined with concrete punitive measures if this type of unlawful and immoral behavior is to be prevented from continuing to take place. The absence of this, especially considering the ever-growing criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza and the brazen nature of its array of violations, would be a shocking failure of the international community’s duty to protect journalists and other civilians. Allowing this to go unpunished would be turning a blind eye to what many have outlined as being part of a deliberate strategy to cover up the truth, obstruct the documentation of war crimes, and hinder the possibility of future accountability.

Trump-Putin Summit and the Chances for Peace Without Ukraine at the Table

Today’s meeting between Trump and Putin is taking place at a U.S. military base in Anchorage. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are convening in Alaska this week for their first in-person meeting since Trump’s return to the White House back in January. The summit, which is being held at the Elmendorf-Richardson U.S. military base in Anchorage, will be focused on trying to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, and represents the latest in a long string of diplomatic efforts aimed at doing so. However, notably, the talks will not include Ukrainian officials – a point that has garnered apprehension among leaders in Kyiv and their European allies across the continent. One of the main areas of concern is regarding the possibility that American and Russian officials may seek to dictate Ukraine’s future without its participation in the high-stakes summit. As such, European leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a virtual meeting with Trump earlier this week in advance of the Alaskan summit, with Zelenskyy and others pressing the American president on the need to ensure that any potential peace deal does not sideline Kyiv. Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, emphasizing that it would be a betrayal of Ukrainian sovereignty and could embolden further Russian aggression.

Critics fear that prioritizing direct U.S.-Russian talks and sidelining Kyiv could lead to a settlement that heavily favors the Kremlin and disregards the interests of Ukraine and much of the rest of Europe. There is also the unease that excluding Ukraine from the negotiations legitimizes Russia’s aggression and may therefore spur future conflicts. In fact, Putin has spoken about his desire to claim several territories in Ukraine such as Donetsk and Luhansk, while at the same time maintaining Russia’s positions in others. All of this has propelled key European leaders – including those from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom – to stress that “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” and that Kyiv must receive “robust and credible security guarantees” to protect its sovereignty. Additionally, they have suggested that new and tougher sanctions should be imposed against Russia if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine at the upcoming summit in Alaska. As many have highlighted, meaningful negotiations can only take place if there is a ceasefire in effect.

There are elements surrounding the Trump-Putin summit that have fueled the sense of unpredictability regarding what could transpire as a result of the meeting. One of these is the belief amongst some that the Russian president may seek to use the enticement of financial incentives as a means of trying to sway Trump. The expected inclusion of Russian government finance officials at the summit has been interpreted as a sign that the Kremlin hopes to address economic matters as well. In the lead up to today’s meeting, a Putin adviser said that there were plans to discuss what he referred to as the “huge untapped potential” in Russia-United States economic relations. The issue of sanctions will also be an area of significance. Moscow wants these to be lifted while Trump has threatened additional and tougher sanctions if a peace deal is not reached soon, however, he has done so in the past without following through – adding to the uncertainty as to where things go moving forward.

Analysts have contended it is unlikely that the Trump-Putin summit directly results in a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine. The White House itself has even downplayed expectations for the meeting, calling it “a listening exercise for the [American] president.” Yesterday, Trump stated that his goal was not to walk away with a ceasefire agreement, but to set the table for more meetings – including one that would involve Zelenskyy. Adding to the skepticism over the potential of an imminent deal are the recent developments that have seen Russia make new gains in eastern Ukraine – and thus observers believe that the prospect of any significant compromise from Moscow is now even more improbable. Furthermore, Russia appears to be persistent on a set of maximalist conditions to halt its hostilities in Ukraine, particularly the retainment of occupied territories. In the preceding days, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has himself expressed that currently there is no indication whatsoever that Russia is preparing to end the war. Due to this, it remains to be seen what concrete outcomes, if any, come out of today’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.