Israel Accused of Starving Gaza Journalists into Silence: International Outcry Demands Action
Gaza City, Palestine – A coalition of over 20 press freedom organizations, media outlets, and journalists’ unions are urgently calling for international intervention to address what they describe as the intentional starvation of journalists in Gaza by Israel. The groups allege this is a tactic to silence self-reliant reporting from within the besieged territory.
The joint statement,signed by prominent organizations including Al Jazeera,the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ),and Reporters Without Borders (RSF),highlights the dire situation facing journalists in Gaza,where one in three people are reportedly going days without food. These journalists, the statement emphasizes, are “the last independent voices still reporting from inside Gaza” and are now being “forced to die from hunger.”
“This is not incidental. This is a tactic,” the statement reads. “The suffering of journalists is not an accident; Israel is employing deliberate tactics to silence the truth by starving them.”
As October 2023, over 230 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, according to the organizations. Those remaining face constant targeting, intimidation, and denial of basic necessities, leaving them with a horrific choice: death by airstrike or starvation.
The groups are demanding immediate action on four key fronts:
Immediate Food and Medical Access: Urgent delivery of food, clean water, and medical supplies to all journalists in Gaza through protected humanitarian corridors.
International media Access: An end to the blockade preventing foreign press from entering Gaza and allowing journalists to operate freely and independently.
Accountability: Investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the starvation and killing of journalists, in accordance with international law.
Sustained Protection and Aid: Long-term protection mechanisms for journalists in conflict zones, with specific support for those reporting under siege.
“If the international community fails to act,the death of these journalists will not only be a moral catastrophe,but it will also be the death of truth itself in Gaza,” the statement warns. “Our inaction will be recorded in history as a monumental failure.”
The organizations are using the hashtag #justice4journalists to amplify their call for immediate action and prevent what they fear will be a devastating loss of independent reporting from Gaza.
