IFJ’s Secretary-General, Anthony Bellanger, condemned the “massacre that is happening before the eyes of the world.”
This year has been “particularly deadly” for journalists, with 104 killed worldwide, over half of them in Gaza, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Tuesday.
According to figures compiled by the press group, at least 55 Palestinian media workers were killed in 2024 during Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
“Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, at least 138 Palestinian journalists have been killed,” the federation said.
IFJ’s Secretary-General, Anthony Bellanger, condemned the “massacre that is happening before the eyes of the world.”
He stated that “many journalists were targeted” in Gaza deliberately, while others were caught “in the wrong place, at the wrong time” amid the fighting.
Gaza Journalist Killed in Israeli Drone Strike – Death Toll Rises to 191
Systematic Targeting
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, 192 journalists and media professionals have been by Israel in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
“The Zionist occupation continues its systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists as part of its broader war on the Palestinian people,” the media office said in a statement on December 1.
“These actions represent a blatant violation of international laws and conventions that protect journalists and safeguard freedom of the press,” it added.
The office called on international organizations, UN bodies, and media advocacy groups “to take immediate action to deter the occupation and hold it accountable in international courts for its ongoing crimes against Palestinian journalists.”
Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the killings of journalists in Gaza as “unacceptable,” demanding protection of the press.
“Journalists in Gaza have been killed at a level unseen in any conflict,” he said in a message read at the opening of the UN International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East 2024 in Geneva.
“The ongoing ban preventing international journalists from Gaza suffocates the truth even further,” Guterres stressed.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) has called on Guterres to issue a UN resolution to find a “deterrent and preventive mechanism” to protect Palestinian journalists.
Three Palestinian Journalists Killed in 24 Hours – Massacre in Al-Tuffah
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,758 Palestinians have been killed, and 106,134 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
