World Press Freedom Day: Conflict in Gaza is deadliest for journalists | Press freedom news

Every year, on May 3rd, UNESCO celebrate World Press Freedom Day.

Today is being marked at a particularly dangerous time for journalists around the world, with Israel’s war in Gaza becoming the deadliest conflict for journalists and media workers.

“When we lose a journalist, we lose our eyes and ears to the outside world. We have lost the voice of the voiceless,” said Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement. declaration today.

“World Press Freedom Day was established to celebrate the value of truth and to protect the people who work courageously to uncover it.”

Deadliest period for journalists in Gaza

More than 100 journalists and media professionals, the vast majority of whom were Palestinian, were killed in the first seven months of the war in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Gaza’s media office recorded more than 140 deaths, which represents an average of five journalists killed every week since October 7th.

Since the start of the war, at least 34,596 Palestinians have been killed and 77,816 others injured in Gaza. More than 8 thousand people are missing, buried under the rubble.

“Gaza reporters must be protected, those who want to be protected must be evacuated, and Gaza’s gates must be opened to international media.” Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF’s Middle East bureau, said in a statement in April.

“The few reporters who managed to get out witnessed the same terrifying reality of journalists being attacked, injured and killed… Palestinian journalism must be urgently protected.”

Al Jazeera journalists killed and injured in Gaza

On January 7, Hamza Dahdouh, the eldest son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh, was killed by an Israeli missile in Khan Younis. Hamza, who was a journalist like his father, was in a vehicle near al-Mawasi, a supposedly safe area designated by Israel, with another journalist, Mustafa Thuraya, who was also killed in the attack.

According to reports from Al Jazeera correspondents, Hamza and Mustafa’s vehicle was targeted as they attempted to interview civilians displaced by previous bombings.

Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemned the attack, adding: “The murder of Mustafa and Hamza… while they were on their way to carry out their duty in the Gaza Strip, reaffirms the need to take immediate and necessary legal action against the occupying forces to ensure there is no impunity.”

On December 15, 2023, Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa was hit by an Israeli drone strike that also injured Wael Dahdouh, while they were reporting at Farhana school in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Abudaqa bled to death for more than four hours as emergency teams were unable to reach him because the Israeli army would not allow it.

Abudaqa was the 13th Al Jazeera journalist killed on duty since the network’s launch in 1996.

In 2022, Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, known throughout the Arab world, was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank while reporting.

Al Jazeera called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for the attacks on reporters.

How many journalists have been killed worldwide in 2024?

So far in 2024, 25 journalists and media workers have been killed, according to CPJ.

At least 20 of those killed were in Palestine. While two were killed in Colombia, one in Pakistan, one in Sudan and one in Myanmar.

By 2023, more than three-quarters of the 99 journalists and media workers killed worldwide had died in the war between Israel and Gaza, the majority of whom were Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

“Since the start of the war between Israel and Gaza, journalists have paid the highest price – their lives – to defend our right to the truth. Every time a journalist dies or is injured, we lose a fragment of that truth,” said CPJ program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. he said.

Where is press freedom most restricted?

To measure the pace of press freedom around the world, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) publishes an annual report index. It classifies the political, economic and sociocultural context, as well as the legal framework and press security in 180 countries and territories.

According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Eritrea has the worst press freedom, followed by Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran.

According to RSF, all independent media have been banned in Eritrea since the transition to a dictatorship in September 2001. The media is controlled directly by the Ministry of Information – a news agency, some publications and Eri TV.

How many journalists are in prison?

As of December 1, 2023, 320 journalists and media workers have been arrested, according to CPJ.

China (44 behind bars), Myanmar (43), Belarus (28), Russia (22) and Vietnam (19) rank as having the highest number of journalists in prison.

China has long been “one of the worst jailers of journalists in the world,” according to CPJ.

Of the 44 journalists arrested in China, almost half are Uyghurs, where they accused Beijing of crimes against humanity for its mass detentions and harsh repression of the region’s mainly Muslim ethnic groups.