The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories has expressed concern over the high number of journalists who have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its genocidal war on the besieged territory on October 7.
OHCHR has verified the killing of 50 journalists and media workers and has received information that 30 more may have died, amounting to approximately 6 percent of all those registered with the Journalists’ Syndicate in Gaza.
“Journalists and media workers, utilizing a variety of tools, including social media, have kept the world informed in real-time of the horrors that civilians in Gaza are enduring. Their dedication deserves tribute. But one by one, these eyes on the ground are going dark,” the UN office said in a statement.
According to the UN, Gaza has seemingly become the deadliest place for journalists and their families in the world as the conflict enters its third month. It said most of the deaths were caused by Israeli airstrikes, which have also damaged or destroyed several media buildings and equipment.
The UN added journalists and media workers perform a particularly pivotal function in the war zones by informing the public about the situation on the ground, and they must be able to work without fear of being killed, injured, or harassed.
The UN statement echoed the concerns of other organizations that advocate for press freedom and journalist safety, such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an American independent and non-profit NGO, this period has been the “deadliest period” for journalists covering conflict since it began tracking in 1992.
The International Federation of Journalists also says 73 percent of the total number of journalists and media workers who have been killed worldwide so far in 2023 have been in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian media office in Gaza said in a statement on Sunday that at least 92 journalists have been killed in the ongoing Israeli attacks on the coastal territory, adding the latest fatalities were journalists Rami Badir and Assem Kamal Musa, who were killed in Israeli raids during the past two days.
“By assassinating journalists, the Israeli occupation is trying to obscure the Palestinian narrative and attempt to obscure the truth, but it has failed miserably in breaking the will of our great Palestinian people,” the office added.
Israel waged the brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Since the start of the onslaught on Gaza, the Tel Aviv regime has killed nearly 19,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 50,000 others.
Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under “complete siege” by Israel.
