Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Friday called for global action to “criminalize” Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists.
In a statement marking World Press Freedom Day, Hamas said: “We call for global action to denounce, expose and criminalize the occupation's violations, and to protect Palestinian journalists and media professionals from the oppression and terrorism of the (Israeli) occupation.”
The Palestinian group affirmed that Israel's “crimes against journalists will not obscure the reality of its terrorism and aggression.”
Hamas stressed that Israel "failed to prevent the spread of the Palestinian narrative at the Arab, Islamic and international levels."
At least 141 journalists and media professionals were killed and more than 70 others were injured by Israeli army gunfire in addition to the arrest of dozens during the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, the Gaza-based Government Media Office said on Thursday.
Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.
Nearly 34,600 Palestinians have since been killed and over 77,800 others injured amid a tight siege imposed by Israel, which left the entire population, especially residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.
More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi
