Gaza: In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, dozens of journalists staged a protest, calling on the international community to safeguard media workers from ongoing Israeli attacks.
Organised by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, the demonstration coincided with World Press Freedom Day on Saturday, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Gathering at the Nasser Medical Complex, journalists held signs demanding, “Stop Killing Journalists.”
During the protest, Tahseen Al-Astal, the syndicate’s deputy head, denounced Israel for committing “a crime against Palestinian journalists by directly killing them and destroying their homes”.
Al-Astal described Gaza's media landscape as "the most dangerous in the world", citing the lack of safety guarantees, the destruction of press institutions, and the deprivation of essential work tools.
According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, 210 Palestinian journalists have been killed in the past 17 months of the Israeli war on Gaza, with hundreds injured or mourning the loss of family members. Media facilities have suffered extensive damage, and thousands of violations against media workers in the West Bank have been reported.
Holding the Israeli occupation fully responsible, Al-Astal urged international institutions to take decisive action to "hold the killers accountable".
Since the onset of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, Israel has killed 212 journalists, wounded 409, and arrested 48 others, the Hamas-run media office reported on Saturday.
The journalist body demanded the immediate release of all imprisoned journalists and called for international efforts to hold Israeli leaders accountable for crimes against media personnel.
"The world celebrates press freedom while Palestine endures unprecedented attacks on journalism," the statement read.
World Press Freedom Day was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in December 1993 to uphold media independence across the globe.
This year’s observance takes place amid what media freedom organisations call the deadliest period for journalists in modern history, with Palestinian reporters suffering the greatest losses.
The Israeli army resumed its offensive on Gaza on March 18, breaking a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement reached with the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on January 19.
Since October 2023, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the ongoing Israeli assault, the majority of them women and children.
(inputs from IANS)