RSF Says 41 Journalists Killed In First Month Of Israel-Palestine War
A total of 41 journalists have so far been killed in the Israel-Palestine war which began on 7 October. 36 among them are Palestinian reporters killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the protection of those still there.
Nowhere is safe for journalists in the Gaza Strip. Whether they are out in the open, operating in press tents set up near hospitals, or in their homes or makeshift shelters with their family members, reporters in the Gaza Strip covering one of this century’s deadliest wars are in constant danger of death.
Just one month after Hamas’ shocking attack and Israel’s subsequent armed response, the toll is terrifying – no fewer than 36 journalists have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza in 31 days of war.
The latest victims include Mohammad Abu Hassir, a Palestinian journalist working for the official Palestinian press agency Wafa. He was killed along with several of his family members by a strike on his home in Gaza City on the night of 5 November. He was the ninth journalist to be killed in November in this narrow territory of 45 square kilometres – an area where civilians are trapped with no possible way out, living, as one journalist said, “under constant pressure from air, land and sea strikes everywhere.”
Disregard for obligation to protect journalists
The Israeli authorities have repeatedly said that their armed forces are “not targeting journalists” but they have not hidden their lack of interest in protecting them either. According to the information so far gathered by RSF, ten of the 36 journalists killed in the Gaza Strip were killed while clearly covering the news.
More than 50 media premises have been completely or partially destroyed by Israeli strikes. The latest was the Agence France-Presse bureau on 3 November. Five days earlier, on 28 October, at the start of a media blackoutimposed during a ground operation, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) notified AFP and the Reuters news agency that they could not “guarantee the safety of their journalists in Gaza.”
