GAZA, (The Palestinian Information Center) Hundreds of media outlets from 50 countries launched on Monday a campaign denouncing Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip and demanding that it be held accountable for its crimes.
The Government Media Office in Gaza announced on Sunday that the death toll of journalist martyrs since October 7, 2023, has risen to 247, following the killing of journalist Islam Abed in an Israeli strike on Gaza City.
The media campaign was initiated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Avaaz, which placed a black banner on the homepage of their websites.
Among the media outlets participating in the campaign are: L’Humanité (France), Die Tageszeitung (Germany), La Libre (Belgium), Público (Portugal), The Independent (UK), L’Orient-Le Jour (Lebanon), and The Intercept (US investigative media organization).
Newspapers including L’Humanité, Público, and La Libre published a front-page message on a black background saying, “At the rate at which the Israeli army is killing journalists in Gaza, soon no one will remain to report on what is happening.”
In a statement Monday, RSF said, “Thanks to the Avaaz campaign platform and Reporters Without Borders, hundreds of media outlets are participating in a campaign calling for the protection of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.”
It added, “Today, hundreds of media outlets in more than 50 countries are uniting in solidarity with Palestinian journalists in Gaza, joining efforts with RSF and Avaaz.”
According to the organization, the campaign “includes full or partial blackouts of front pages in print media, banners on online news platforms, as well as audio messages on radio and visual messages on television stations.”
Israel routinely denies deliberately targeting journalists or claims that some of them belong to Hamas.
RSF called on the participating media to demand three things:
1. Protect Palestinian journalists and end the policy of impunity for crimes committed by the Israeli army against them in Gaza.
2. Grant foreign media independent access to Gaza.
3. Call on governments worldwide to host Palestinian journalists who wish to leave Gaza.
It continued, “Coinciding with the opening of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in eight days, we demand strong action from the international community and urge the Security Council to stop the Israeli army’s crimes against Palestinian journalists.”
With US backing, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, ignoring all international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it. This genocide has resulted in 63,557 Palestinians killed, 160,660 injured (mostly children and women), over 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and famine that has killed 348 people, including 127 children.
