UK journalists union condemns killing of 5 journalists in Israel air strike on Gaza
December 27, 2024
MEMO
5 journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike on their vehicle near Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, on 26 December 2024
5 journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike on their vehicle near Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, on 26 December 2024
[Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
The British National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has strongly condemned the killing of five journalists in central Gaza, describing it as an “outrageous attack” and a clear violation of international law.
The journalists, who worked for the Al-Quds satellite channel, were reportedly sleeping in a clearly marked broadcasting van when it was hit by an Israeli air strike near Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Photographs widely shared on social media show the van engulfed in flames.
“This is an outrageous attack and a clear breach of international law,” said Laura Davison, general secretary of the NUJ.
“There can have been no doubt that the van was a media installation. Journalists and their facilities are protected by international conventions, as civilians, and should not be targeted. This is yet another gross violation and must be condemned.”
Davison renewed calls for the Israeli government to cease its targeting of journalists.
Israel has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians in Gaza since 7 October 2023 and reduced the enclave to rubble.
The British National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has strongly condemned the killing of five journalists in central Gaza, describing it as an “outrageous attack” and a clear violation of international law.
The journalists, who worked for the Al-Quds satellite channel, were reportedly sleeping in a clearly marked broadcasting van when it was hit by an Israeli air strike near Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Photographs widely shared on social media show the van engulfed in flames.
“This is an outrageous attack and a clear breach of international law,” said Laura Davison, general secretary of the NUJ.
“There can have been no doubt that the van was a media installation. Journalists and their facilities are protected by international conventions, as civilians, and should not be targeted. This is yet another gross violation and must be condemned.”
Davison renewed calls for the Israeli government to cease its targeting of journalists.
Israel has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians in Gaza since 7 October 2023 and reduced the enclave to rubble.
Palestinian TV says Israeli strike kills 5 journalists in Gaza
A Palestinian man cleans near the remains of a broadcasting vehicle following an Israeli airstrike that killed five journalists from Al-Quds Al-Youm television channel near Al-Awda Hospital, December 26, 2024. (REUTERS)
A missile hit the journalists’ broadcast truck as it was parked in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to a statement from their employer, Al-Quds Today.
It is affiliated with Islamic Jihad, whose militants have fought alongside Hamas in the Gaza Strip and took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.
The channel identified the five staffers as Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan, Ayman Al-Jadi, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Khalil, Fadi Hassouna and Mohammed Al-Lada’a.
They were killed “while performing their journalistic and humanitarian duty,” the statement said.
“We affirm our commitment to continue our resistant media message,” it added.
The Israeli military said in its own statement that it had conducted “a precise strike on a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the area of Nuseirat.”
It added that “prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.”
According to witnesses in Nuseirat, a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft hit the broadcast vehicle, which was parked outside Al-Awda Hospital, setting the vehicle on fire and killing those inside.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Middle East arm said the organization was “devastated by the reports that five journalists and media workers were killed inside their broadcasting vehicle by an Israeli strike.”
“Journalists are civilians and must always be protected,” it added in a statement on social media.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said last week that more than 190 journalists had been killed and at least 400 injured since the start of the war in Gaza.
It was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 attack last year, which resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 45,361 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
A Palestinian man cleans near the remains of a broadcasting vehicle following an Israeli airstrike that killed five journalists from Al-Quds Al-Youm television channel near Al-Awda Hospital, December 26, 2024. (REUTERS)
AFP
December 26, 2024
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Middle East arm said the organization was devastated
GAZA: A Palestinian TV channel affiliated with a militant group said five of its journalists were killed Thursday in an Israeli strike on their vehicle in Gaza, with Israel’s military saying it had targeted a “terrorist cell.”
December 26, 2024
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Middle East arm said the organization was devastated
GAZA: A Palestinian TV channel affiliated with a militant group said five of its journalists were killed Thursday in an Israeli strike on their vehicle in Gaza, with Israel’s military saying it had targeted a “terrorist cell.”
A missile hit the journalists’ broadcast truck as it was parked in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to a statement from their employer, Al-Quds Today.
It is affiliated with Islamic Jihad, whose militants have fought alongside Hamas in the Gaza Strip and took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.
The channel identified the five staffers as Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan, Ayman Al-Jadi, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Khalil, Fadi Hassouna and Mohammed Al-Lada’a.
They were killed “while performing their journalistic and humanitarian duty,” the statement said.
“We affirm our commitment to continue our resistant media message,” it added.
The Israeli military said in its own statement that it had conducted “a precise strike on a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the area of Nuseirat.”
It added that “prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.”
According to witnesses in Nuseirat, a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft hit the broadcast vehicle, which was parked outside Al-Awda Hospital, setting the vehicle on fire and killing those inside.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Middle East arm said the organization was “devastated by the reports that five journalists and media workers were killed inside their broadcasting vehicle by an Israeli strike.”
“Journalists are civilians and must always be protected,” it added in a statement on social media.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said last week that more than 190 journalists had been killed and at least 400 injured since the start of the war in Gaza.
It was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 attack last year, which resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 45,361 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
92% of journalists have lost equipment in Israel’s bombing of Gaza, poll finds
December 27, 2024
December 27, 2024
MEMO
Palestinians hold funeral prayers for journalist Ahmed Al-Louh on 16 December 2024 after he was killed in an Israeli air strike a day earlier in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp [Mohammed Asad/MEMO]
Some 92 per cent of journalists in Gaza have lost equipment essential for reporting as a result of Israel’s genocidal campaign in the enclave, a survey by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) has found.
Ninety-one per cent said they didn’t have protective gear, including flak jackets and helmets, to carry out their work.
“I stopped working because I lost the phone necessary to keep up with my work,” one journalist explained.
“I lost my home as it was bombed and completely destroyed. Now I live in a tent … I also lost my laptop, which was my source of income, and now I am without work,” another said.
The survey, which was based on responses from 383 journalists, 89 per cent of whom were in Gaza, also found that 96 per cent had been forcibly displaced, while 88 per cent said their home had been destroyed. As a result, 60 per cent now live in tents.
Carried out between 25 October and 7 November, the poll also found that 49 per cent of respondents had lost their job during the war and 21 per cent had been injured.
Around one third of journalists who took part in the survey reported being displaced more than eight times. While 13 said they had been detained by Israeli occupation forces.
“The house was targeted. My brother, my wife, and my children were killed. I was the sole survivor,” one respondent said.
All reported struggles in continuing their work, either due to the lack of adequate equipment, internet connectivity, or because of the difficulty of their living conditions.
The struggles they face to survive led to one journalist reporting that they were “losing the motivation to continue.”
While another journalist was defiant, saying: “I lost all my professional equipment while working, including my phone, laptop, camera, and solar power equipment… Despite this, I remain steadfast in northern Gaza, continuing to fulfill my journalistic duty with all the will and determination I have, despite the harsh conditions and daily challenges I face.”
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has reported that 195 journalists have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza and at least 400 have been injured since October 2023.
Palestinians hold funeral prayers for journalist Ahmed Al-Louh on 16 December 2024 after he was killed in an Israeli air strike a day earlier in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp [Mohammed Asad/MEMO]
Some 92 per cent of journalists in Gaza have lost equipment essential for reporting as a result of Israel’s genocidal campaign in the enclave, a survey by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) has found.
Ninety-one per cent said they didn’t have protective gear, including flak jackets and helmets, to carry out their work.
“I stopped working because I lost the phone necessary to keep up with my work,” one journalist explained.
“I lost my home as it was bombed and completely destroyed. Now I live in a tent … I also lost my laptop, which was my source of income, and now I am without work,” another said.
The survey, which was based on responses from 383 journalists, 89 per cent of whom were in Gaza, also found that 96 per cent had been forcibly displaced, while 88 per cent said their home had been destroyed. As a result, 60 per cent now live in tents.
Carried out between 25 October and 7 November, the poll also found that 49 per cent of respondents had lost their job during the war and 21 per cent had been injured.
Around one third of journalists who took part in the survey reported being displaced more than eight times. While 13 said they had been detained by Israeli occupation forces.
“The house was targeted. My brother, my wife, and my children were killed. I was the sole survivor,” one respondent said.
All reported struggles in continuing their work, either due to the lack of adequate equipment, internet connectivity, or because of the difficulty of their living conditions.
The struggles they face to survive led to one journalist reporting that they were “losing the motivation to continue.”
While another journalist was defiant, saying: “I lost all my professional equipment while working, including my phone, laptop, camera, and solar power equipment… Despite this, I remain steadfast in northern Gaza, continuing to fulfill my journalistic duty with all the will and determination I have, despite the harsh conditions and daily challenges I face.”
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has reported that 195 journalists have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza and at least 400 have been injured since October 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment