GAZA, (PIC)
Hamas has called on human rights and legal institutions around the world to shoulder their responsibilities and reclaim their true role, not to bow to pressure from the Israeli occupation, to work to criminalize Israel’s violations against Palestinian journalists and expose them to world public opinion, to ensure their protection in carrying out their mission, and to press for the immediate release of all detainees in Israeli prisons.
On World Press Freedom Day, which falls on May 3 each year, Hamas praised the role of the media in conveying the truth and confronting the “Zionist propaganda”, stressing that the Israeli crimes will not succeed in silencing voices and obscuring the Palestinian narrative. It also called for the release of all detained journalists.
“As the world celebrates journalists and press freedom on May 3, the Zionist occupation continues its war and aggression by targeting Palestinian journalists and all media outlets operating in Palestine through deliberate killings, persecution, arrests, restrictions, and prevention of media coverage,” the Hamas statement said.
Since the onset of Israel’s war of annihilation against Gaza, 212 journalists have been killed and more than 177 journalists have been arbitrarily arrested. 49 journalists remain detained in Israeli prisons while dozens of others are victims of enforced disappearance and are subjected to the most heinous crimes of torture, abuse, starvation, and medical neglect.
Hamas paid tribute to the journalist martyrs and affirmed that “the freedom of journalists to convey the suffering of our people to the world and expose the crimes of the occupation is a right guaranteed by all international conventions, and that the occupation continues to violate it flagrantly without accountability.”
“We call for the rejection, condemnation, and criminalization of this Zionist policy and for preventing the occupation from continuing to target journalists and media institutions,” Hamas stated.
The Movement praised Palestinian journalists and media professionals, both inside and outside Palestine, who stand proudly at the forefront of the Palestinian people’s ongoing struggle for resilience and resistance. “They are the resounding voice of our Palestinian people defending their rights and national principles. We remember with all our appreciation and gratitude, their achievements and their professional careers, which reflect their commitment to national rights and principles.”
It emphasized that “the continuation of the occupation’s crimes against the Palestinian media reveals the extent of the fascist occupation government’s fear of the media’s influence and role in exposing its crimes and aggression against our people. It also proves its abject failure in confronting the clarity of the Palestinian narrative and the collapse of its malicious and misleading propaganda before the world public opinion.”
Hamas expressed its appreciation for all Palestinian, Arab, Islamic, and international media institutions that have consistently reported the reality in Palestine with objectivity and credibility.
The Movement renewed its call for effective global pressure to condemn, expose, and criminalize the Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists and media professionals and to protect them while performing their media role and mission, which is guaranteed by international conventions and laws.
