13 Journalists Killed in Gaza: Palestinian Protest Rally Demands End Attacks

August 7, 2014

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined its affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), to express its outrage and condemnation at the 13 media workers who have to date been killed in the Gaza region.

At noon today the PJS held a protest rally outside the United Nations Offices in the Palestinian city of Ramallah to show solidarity with journalists, express their anger at the killing of their colleagues, and demand that Israeli forces end attacks against media in Gaza and are held accountable for these atrocities.

Hundreds of journalists, media workers, civil service representatives and members of the public gathered at the protest where a procession of coffins took place - one for each of the 13 journalists who have been killed since the conflict began one month ago.

Each coffin bore the name of a journalist – a mark of respect, solidarity and remembrance for fallen colleagues.

“We express our solidarity and support with our colleagues at the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) and with all media workers in Gaza and across Palestine,” said IFJ President Jim Boumelha. “We join international condemnation of Israeli attacks against Palestinian journalists and we express our deep anger and sadness at the deaths of the 13 media workers."

“We repeat our call for all sides in this conflict to respect the rights and freedoms of all journalists and media workers and strictly abide by applicable norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Otherwise more journalists will surely lose their lives.”

Yesterday, Monday 4 August, saw the latest journalist killed in Gaza. Hamada Khaled Maqqat, 24, editing director of the SAJA online news website, was killed in his house on Nafaq Street early in the morning by an Israeli bombardment.

The PJS has detailed the other journalists killed over the last few days:

- Izzar Dheir, who worked for the Freedom Media Network, was killed along with six members of his family when a bomb hit his house on July 29.

- Mohammed Aldeiri, a photojournalist for the Palestinian Media Network, was killed while reporting on the Israeli artillery shelling of Shjayah market last Wednesday, 30 July. His body was pulled from the rubble of the attack on 2 August.

- Adballah Fahjan, a sports photojournalist for the Alaqsa website and MBC TV channel sports program Sada Almalaeb, was killed while taking photos of displaced civilians in the Jneineh area of Rafah city last Friday, 1 August.

- Freelance journalist Shadi Ayyad was killed in an Israeli bombing attack that hit his house in the Zaytoon area on Saturday, 2 August. His father was also killed in the attack.

The full list of journalists killed in Gaza since the conflict began is available Initiates file downloadHERE.

The IFJ has repeated its appeal for media personnel working and reporting in the region to stay vigilant at all times and to take every necessary action to ensure their safety.

“As the number of media workers killed in Gaza increases every day and the violent attacks against journalists show no sign of abating, we repeat our appeal for media personnel reporting and working in the region to stay alert and vigilant at all times and to take every practical action required to make sure they are as safe as possible,” said Boumelha.

Journalists reporting from the region are advised to read IFJ’s Front Line Journalism Handbook. Specifically designed for journalists working in the Arab World and Middle East, the regionally customised handbook provides journalists with invaluable practical safety advice and information for covering conflict zones.

The IFJ represents more than 600 000 journalists in 134 countries


For more information contact:
International Federation of Journalists
Phone: +32 2 235 22 17
Website: www.rsf.org