DUBAI: Nine organizations that campaign for human rights and freedom of expression, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, have written to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling on his government to take urgent action to protect journalists reporting on the war in Gaza.
They also urged him to lobby for the conditions required for safe and unrestricted news coverage of the conflict, and to take action to prevent the UK potentially becoming associated with any war crimes committed in the territory.
There is growing evidence that the Israeli military could be deliberately targeting journalists working in the Middle East, the groups warned in the letter.
They said strikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in southern Lebanon on Oct. 13 that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six reporters from Reuters, Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse “were unlawful and apparently deliberate.”
They noted that the “IDF has also acknowledged deliberately targeting a car in which journalists were traveling” on Jan. 7, and “in at least two other cases, journalists reported receiving threats from Israeli officials and IDF officers before their family members were killed in Gaza.”
The groups added that “journalists reporting on the war contend with challenges beyond the ever-present risk of death,” and warned that “the targeted or indiscriminate killing of journalists, if committed deliberately or recklessly, is a war crime.”
The groups said they believe “the British government can and must do more to effectively pursue accountability for journalists killed in the hostilities,” and to protect and support local and international journalists.
They said the UK’s “long record of strong support for Israel” means it is “one of Israel’s most influential partners” and, as such, “the United Kingdom will be judged on how it has used that influence to ensure that all parties to the conflict abide by international law.”
The organizations urged Sunak “to act immediately and decisively” by calling publicly for all involved in the conflict to respect the rights of journalists; demanding that Israel and Egypt provide international journalists with access to Gaza and allow the delivery of personal protective equipment; and supporting investigations into all incidents in which journalists were killed.
At least 85 journalists and other media workers have been killed since Oct. 7, according to the latest figures from the Committee to Protect Journalists, issued on Feb. 8. More journalists were killed in Palestine during the first 10 weeks of the conflict in Gaza than had been killed in any single country over the course of an entire year since the organization began tracking such incidents in 1992.
