Ramallah (UNA/WAFA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates renewed its call for immediate international action to protect journalists in the occupied Palestinian territories, end the Israeli blockade on international media access to the Gaza Strip, and hold Israel accountable for its systematic targeting of journalists.
The Ministry strongly condemned, on Tuesday, the assassination of Ziad al-Razi, an employee of the Palestinian official media, who was killed along with several members of his family in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip. This brings the number of martyrs among the official media workers to nearly 20 martyrs and 100 wounded, in addition to more than 230 martyrs among the knights who uncovered the truth about what the Palestinian people are being subjected to in the Strip.
She explained that Palestinian journalists are on the front lines documenting and exposing Israel's war of starvation against the Palestinian people in Gaza, monitoring the killing of children, deliberate starvation, and deprivation of food and medicine. They bravely report shocking images of destruction and the killing of civilians as they line up for food, revealing the scale and horror of the crimes that Israel wants to hide from the world. This systematic campaign is part of a strategy to eliminate evidence, silence witnesses, and commit atrocities away from the world's sight and hearing.
She noted that Israel prevents international journalists and foreign media outlets from entering Gaza, ensuring that its crimes are committed without any oversight. She called on international journalists' unions, media organizations, and press freedom advocates worldwide to take concrete action to hold the occupying state accountable.
The ministry warned of the dangers and repercussions of killing journalists and media professionals, especially at a time when Israel is preparing to launch a large-scale invasion of Gaza City, which will result in the deaths of large numbers of Palestinian civilians. It added that targeting journalists is clearly part of Israel's preparations to commit these crimes without documentation or accountability.
She stressed that the deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and UN Security Council Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists. These crimes require an urgent international investigation and legal action by competent international courts.
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