German journalists call for protection of colleagues in Gaza
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The German journalists have launched a website, Protect Journalists in Gaza, and declared that attacks on journalists constitute a war crime.
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People in Gaza City, mostly journalists, gather around the bodies of two reporters—Mohammed Sobh, a photographer from Khabar news agency, and Saeed al-Taweel, the editor-in-chief of Al-Khamsa News—who were killed by an Israeli air strike on October 10. (AP)
Nearly 90 journalists in Germany have called 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 on the Strip last October.
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.
Journalists in Palestinian territories face heightened risks as they cover the war amid Israeli ground assaults and airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and power outages.
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."
Probe highlights Israeli 'attack on press freedom' in Gaza: AFP
In June, a collaborative study by foreign media outlets revealed the circumstances behind the deaths of over 100 Palestinian journalists and media workers during the war on Gaza, some of whom were wearing press vests.
Palestinian journalists have been consistently targeted, alongside their families, by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza since the genocide was launched in October.
The four-month investigation was headed by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories and involved about 50 journalists from 13 companies, including AFP, The Guardian, and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism group (ARIJ).
Laurent Richard of Forbidden Stories wrote an editorial that accompanied the Gaza Project's release in which he reported the deaths of over 100 journalists and media workers, explaining how "Gaza journalists have long known that their 'press' vests do not protect them."
"Worse still, the protective gear might further expose them," Richard noted.
Carlos Martinez de la Serna of the Committee to Protect Journalists was shocked by the death toll, telling investigators it was one of the most "flagrant attacks on press freedom."
The investigation discovered that four journalists were reportedly killed or injured by a drone while wearing a press vest and 14 were killed, maimed, or targeted while wearing protective press gear.
At least 40 journalists and media professionals were slain while at home in Gaza, the report said.
Basel Khair al-Din, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza who says he was targeted by a drone attack while wearing a press vest, expressed that the very vest intended to protect the press according to international law is "now a threat to us."
AFP and other outlets looked into a hit on its Gaza office on November 2 after its personnel had left while a live stream from a balcony camera continued.
They concluded that an Israeli tank most likely caused the strike, even though the IOF claimed it was a "shock wave or shrapnel" from another strike that damaged the bureau.
