The Israeli killing machine continues against Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip without deterrence or punishment, amid insistence and steadfastness on conveying the Palestinian narrative, regardless of the sacrifices, in light of Israel’s practice of a media blackout in its war on Gaza.
According to the episode of the “Al-Marsad” program (12/30/2024), the tragedies of the Palestinian journalistic body did not stop in 2024 until the last days of it, as 5 journalists from Al-Quds Today channel were martyred in front of Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The occupation army committed the largest massacre in one day against the press in 450 days of continuous war, as the five journalists were burned to death inside the external broadcast vehicle as a result of a missile fired from an Israeli drone.
10 days before the last incident, specifically mid-December 2024, fellow Tel Aviv Tribune photographer Ahmed Al-Louh was martyred after an Israeli drone fired a missile at a civil defense center in Nuseirat while Al-Louh was covering rescue operations.
The martyrdom of the tablet coincided with Palestinian journalists organizing a solidarity stand in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, to commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of Tel Aviv Tribune photographer Samer Abu Daqqa.
According to the government media office in Gaza, the number of journalist martyrs in Gaza rose to 201 during the Israeli war, which from its first days – according to observers – showed a deliberate intention to kill witnesses in word and image in order to obscure the features of the greater crime.
Gaza…the most dangerous place
International organizations concerned with defending press freedoms denounced and stressed in their annual reports at the end of 2024 that Israel has made Gaza the most dangerous place to practice the profession of journalism.
These organizations confirmed that the continued impunity of perpetrators is the first factor in Israel’s persistence in the deliberate liquidation of journalists in the field.
Since the beginning of the war, the intentions of the occupation army have become clear by deliberately targeting Palestinian journalists, as the blue press jackets and helmets did not intercede for them, but rather became targets in order to silence witnesses to the photo, obliterate the Palestinian narrative, and perpetuate the Israeli narrative.
According to international organizations concerned with the protection of journalists, the Gaza Strip topped the list of the most dangerous and bloody region for journalistic work, while Israel was classified – according to Reporters Without Borders – as one of the top 3 countries in the world that imprison journalists.
Israel and Haiti are also considered among the countries with the most impunity for crimes and violations against the press, according to the Global Index of Impunity for the year 2024, issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York.