'Israel' kills another journalist in Gaza, death toll rises to 173
3 Min Read
The Gaza media office called on the international community to hold "Israel" accountable for its "crimes against journalists."
-
Palestinian journalists carried mock coffins in a symbolic funeral procession toward a United Nations office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 7, 2023. (AP)
Another Palestinian journalist has been killed by "Israel" in Gaza, the government media office announced, bringing the death toll to 173 journalists killed by the occupation since October 7.
Abdullah Shakshak was a journalist who worked for multiple Arab media outlets. He was killed in the city of Rafah on Sunday afternoon when an Israeli military quadcopter conducted an airstrike.
The Gaza media office issued a statement denouncing the occupation's targeting of Palestinian journalists, urging the international community to hold "Israel" accountable for "crimes against journalists."
The statement also called for the international community, international organizations, and media and journalism organizations to “deter the occupying Tel Aviv regime, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to stop the genocide and the killing and assassination of Palestinian journalists.”
Journalists reporting on the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip are faced with increased risks when they are on duty, including Israeli ground operations and airstrikes, disrupted communication lines, supply shortages, and power outages.
German journalists call for protection of colleagues in Gaza
Nearly 90 journalists in Germany called last week for the protection of their colleagues in the Gaza Strip, where over 170 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the genocidal war.
The German journalists have launched a website, Protect Journalists in Gaza, and declared that attacks on journalists constitute a war crime.
“Nevertheless, the Israeli army continues to kill our colleagues who are clearly identified as media personnel by the labels on their vests and helmets,” the statement from the group emphasized.
It pointed out that the situation for journalists in Gaza is more perilous than in other war and conflict zones and stressed the importance of diversifying sources and ensuring equal cooperation with Palestinian media professionals.
The statement also highlighted the need for news reports to critically reflect statements from all parties involved and noted that no other war or conflict zone has been as closed off to journalists as Gaza, with the Israeli regime having effectively shut the area to media professionals.
The journalists also criticized German media outlets for echoing Israeli narratives and relying exclusively on information from Israeli officials. They called on mainstream media organizations to provide more balanced coverage.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have lied about targeting journalists intentionally and have claimed that some cases mentioned in the report were militants "reported as journalists."
