Starved, targeted, silenced: Al Jazeera calls for global action to protect Gaza’s journalists
Al Jazeera Media Network urgently calls upon the journalistic community, press freedom organisations, and relevant legal bodies to take decisive action to halt the forced starvation and crimes against journalists and media professionals in Gaza.
For over 21 months, the Israeli bombardment and the systematic starvation of the nearly two million people of Gaza have pushed an entire population to the brink of survival.
The journalists on the ground, who have courageously reported on this ongoing genocide, have risked their lives and the safety of their families to shed light on these atrocities. However, they now find themselves fighting for their own survival.
On 19 July, Al Jazeera journalists began posting heart wrenching messages on social media, signalling that their capacity to continue was waning. One powerful post by Anas AlShariff, Al Jazeera Arabic channel correspondent in Gaza stated, "I haven’t stopped covering for a moment in 21 months, and today, I say it outright…And with indescribable pain. I am drowning in hunger, trembling in exhaustion, and resisting the fainting that follows me every moment… Gaza is dying. And we die with it.”
As these brave journalists continue to document the harrowing realities in Gaza, they are often overlooked, reduced to mere informants rather than being acknowledged as witnesses to their own stories.
Dr. Mostefa Souag, Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network, commenting on the plight of journalists in Gaza, stated, “We owe it to the courageous journalists in Gaza to amplify their voices and put an end to the unbearable suffering they are enduring due to forced starvation and targeted killings by Israeli occupation forces.”
Dr. Souag further added, “The journalistic community and the world bear an immense responsibility; it is our duty to raise our voices and mobilise all available means to support our colleagues in this noble profession. If we fail to act now, we risk a future where there may be no one left to tell our stories. Our inaction will be recorded in history as a monumental failure to protect our fellow journalists and a betrayal of the principles that every journalist strives to uphold.”
Since October 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have killed five Al Jazeera journalists, Samer Abudaqqa, Hamza AlDahdouh, Ismael Al-Ghoul, Ahmed Al-Louh, and Hossam Shabat, and many of the family members of Al Jazeera and other journalists. Yet, these courageous journalists, along with their colleagues, refuse to succumb to the threats and pressure tactics employed by the Israeli authorities to silence them.
Submission to such intimidation would have resulted in an almost total blackout of coverage of the ongoing genocide, forced starvation, and crimes against humanity inflicted upon the civilian population of Gaza.
Al Jazeera Media Network call for immediate action by concerned international organisations to bring an end to this forced starvation that does not spare journalists who are the bearers of truth.
