The Al Jazeera Media Network has signed a joint letter with other press freedom organizations, media organizations, journalists’ unions, and advocates of truth and transparency, demanding an end to the forced starvation and targeting of journalists in Gaza by Israel. The letter states that journalists in Gaza are being starved to death “deliberately, and in real time, while the world watches”.
One in three people in Gaza now goes days without food, and among the starving are journalists, the last independent voices still reporting from inside Gaza. The letter emphasizes that the suffering of journalists is not an accident; Israel is employing deliberate tactics to silence the truth by starving them. Since October 2023, over 230 journalists and media workers in Gaza have been killed, and those who remain are subjected to constant targeting, intimidation, and denied their basic needs.
The joint letter demands immediate action from governments, international organizations, media institutions, and civil society to protect journalists in Gaza. The demands include immediate food and medical access, international media access, accountability for those responsible for the starvation and killing of journalists, and sustained protection and aid for journalists operating in conflict zones.
The signatories to the letter refuse to stand by while truth dies and refuse to let their colleagues perish from hunger. “We call for immediate action. Now,” the letter concludes. The call to action comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen, with many Palestinians facing malnutrition and a dire blood shortage.
The letter is a powerful statement of solidarity with journalists in Gaza and a call to action for the international community to protect the last independent voices in the besieged enclave. By signing the letter, the Al Jazeera Media Network and other organizations are demanding an end to the forced starvation and targeted killing of journalists in Gaza and calling for immediate action to protect the lives of journalists and the truth they report.