The Palestinian Journalists Protection Centre:Ongoing Massacre Against Journalists: "israel" Kills 5 Journalists in Gaza in a Single Day
The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) strongly condemns the killing of five Palestinian journalists in separate attacks carried out today, Sunday, by the "israeli" occupation forces in the Gaza Strip—turning the month of May, which marks World Press Freedom Day, into a graveyard for journalists in Gaza.
According to the center’s monitoring, the journalists Abdul Rahman Al-Abadleh, Aziz Al-Hijjar, Ahmad Al-Zeinati, Khaled Abu Saif, and his wife journalist Nour Qandeel, were martyred in airstrikes that targeted their homes or areas of displacement.
The center noted that journalist Abdul Rahman Al-Abadleh was killed in an "israeli" airstrike on the town of Al-Qarara in southern Gaza, while journalist Aziz Al-Hijjar was martyred alongside his wife and children in a violent bombing in Be’er Al-Na’ja, northern Gaza.
Journalist Nour Qandeel, her husband Khaled Abu Saif, and their young daughter were killed in an airstrike that hit their home in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza. In Sanabel camp near the Kuwaiti field hospital west of Khan Younis, journalist Ahmad Al-Zeinati, his wife Nour Al-Madhoun, and their two sons Mohammad and Khaled were killed when an airstrike hit their tent shelter.
This brings the number of Palestinian journalists martyred since the start of the "israeli" assault on Gaza on October 7, 2023, to approximately 222 journalists, many of whom were killed with their families in their homes or while reporting on the ground, according to both local and international press organizations.
The Journalists Protection Center affirms that these crimes reflect a systematic pattern of targeting media crews, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacks on journalists as civilians with special protections during armed conflict, as outlined in Article 79 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.
The Center calls for an urgent and independent international investigation into these crimes and for holding the leaders of the occupation accountable for issuing kill orders. It also urges the international community and all human rights and media institutions to act immediately to protect Palestinian journalists and ensure that perpetrators of violations against them are brought to justice.
The Center emphasizes that what is happening in Gaza represents one of the deadliest waves of mass killings of journalists in modern history, amid suspicious international silence and complicity from some parties turning a blind eye to these crimes.
It stresses that the occupation’s attempts to silence the voice of truth will not succeed in erasing the Palestinian narrative, nor will they deter Palestinian journalists from continuing their professional and humanitarian mission—no matter how heavy the price.
Mike
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