GENEVA, (PIC)
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that Israel has escalated its targeting of Palestinian journalists since the start of its aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7 last year.
The Euro-Med affirmed in a report on Friday that Israel violates international law and war rules in its aggression on Gaza and flouts its obligations to protect journalists and not to obstruct their work in conveying the truth and reporting field developments.
The report showed that Palestinian journalists have been subjected to premeditated murder, direct targeting, arbitrary arrest, and enforced disappearance, often along with their families, in addition to destruction of their workplaces and deprivation of necessary equipment, as well as practicing public incitement against them.
The Euro-Med’s report cited Israeli killing of about 150 Palestinian journalists and wounding many others since the start of its bloody aggression on the Gaza Strip, in addition to those who were arrested, tortured, and deprived of obtaining legal representation or receiving humane treatment.
The report indicated the destruction of the vast majority of press headquarters and the broadcasting systems of most of the 24 radio stations in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the restrictions on television channels, and the suspension of the work of Al-Jazeera Network and Al-Mayadeen Media Network in Palestine.
The human rights organization warned of the ongoing Israeli public incitement campaign against journalists, using fabricated charges against them, threatening them by direct calls discouraging them from continuing their work, and banning journalists and representatives of international media from entering the Gaza Strip.
The Euro-Med said that targeting journalists falls within war crimes and violates international law, as well as UN Security Council Resolutions: 2222/2015 and 1738/2006, as well as Article 79 of Additional Appendix (Protocol) I to the 1977 Geneva Conventions.
The Euro-Med called for opening a comprehensive international probe into the violations and crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against journalists in Gaza, holding those involved accountable, and compensating the victims.
