PARIS: France on Tuesday condemned “the heavy toll paid by local journalists” in Gaza and called on the Israeli authorities to guarantee “safe and unhindered access” for international media.
On Sunday, five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City. Among the victims was Anas Al-Sharif, a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent aged 28.
A freelance reporter was also killed in the strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team.
Condemning the strike, the French foreign ministry said that the journalists were targeted while “carrying out their reporting duties.”
Israel confirmed it had targeted Sharif, whom it labelled a “terrorist” affiliated with Hamas, saying he “posed as a journalist.”
“Journalists must never be targeted,” Pascal Confavreux, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, said in a statement, adding that they were protected by international humanitarian law.
International journalists “must be able to operate freely and independently to document the reality of the conflict,” Confavreux added.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, members of the international press have not been allowed to work freely in the Palestinian territory.
Only a few hand-picked media outlets have been allowed to enter, embedded with the Israeli army, and their reports are subject to military censorship.
Almost 200 journalists have been killed in the war Israel launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
International news agencies Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP) and Reuters as well as the BBC in July called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza.
France urges Israel to grant journalists ‘safe’ access to Gaza
https://arab.news/vtawt
France urges Israel to grant journalists ‘safe’ access to Gaza
- Condemning the strike, the French foreign ministry said that the journalists were targeted while “carrying out their reporting duties”
- International journalists “must be able to operate freely and independently to document the reality of the conflict,” Confavreux said
‘Stay out of our politics,’ Australia’s former PM tells Netenyahu
- Turnbull slams Israeli prime minister in Channel 4 interview
- Netanyahu’s attempts to link Bondi massacre to Palestine policy ‘unhelpful’
LONDON: Australia’s former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told Benjamin Netanyahu to “stay out of our politics” after the Israeli leader linked the recognition of Palestine to the Bondi Beach mass shooting.
Fifteen people were killed when a father and son opened fire on people celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Sunday evening.
Netanyahu said Australia's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood earlier this year had poured “oil on the fire of antisemitism” in the weeks leading up to the attack.
When asked about the comments on Channel 4 News in the UK, Turnbull said: “I would respectfully say to Bibi Netanyahu, please stay out of our politics.
“If you've got that kind of commentary to make, you are not helping … and it’s not right.”
Turnbull backed the current Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government for recogizing Palestinian statehood in August along with many other Western nations as international pressure grew over the war in Gaza.
In a speech after the Bondi attack, Netanyahu said: “A few months ago I wrote to the Australian prime minister that your policy is pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism.”
He added: “Antisemitism is a cancer that spreads when leaders are silent.”
Turnbull said the vast majority of countries in the world recognize Palestine as a state and support a two-state solution to the conflict.
He said Australia is a very successful multicultural society that can not allow foreign conflicts to be imported.
“We need to ensure that that wars in the Middle East or wars in any other part of the world are not fought out here,” he said. “Trying to link them, which is what Netanyahu has done, is not helpful and that's exactly the reverse of what we want to achieve.”
Albanese also rejected Netanyahu’s comments when asked about whether there was a link between his approach to Palestine and the Bondi attack.
“Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognizes a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East,” he told broadcasters. “This is a moment of national unity where we need to come together … We need to wrap our arms around members of the Jewish community who are going through an extraordinarily difficult period.”
Albanese visited in hospital the man hailed a s hero for disarming one of the attackers.
Ahmed Al-Ahmed, a shopkeeper who moved to Australia from Syria in 2007, is recovering after tackling the gunman.
