The issue was in the spotlight at UN Headquarters on
Monday during a forum focused on the dangers and
complexities of reporting from the Occupied Palestinian
Territory.
The conversation “could not be more
timely, nor more necessary,” said Melissa Fleming, head of
the Department of Global Communications (DGC)
which organized the 2025
United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the
Middle East.
“This seminar is inviting us to
consider how journalism in Israel and Palestine,
particularly in Gaza and the West Bank, has become both a
battleground and a lifeline,” she
said.
‘Unacceptable ban’ on foreign press:
Guterres
Ms. Fleming read out a
message from UN Secretary-General
António Guterres who said that “journalists in Gaza
have been facing the same risks and realities as the people
they cover – including displacement, famine and
death.”
Furthermore, the rules of war are clear:
civilians and civilian infrastructure are not a target, and
journalists must be able to perform their essential work
without interference, intimidation or harm.
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“This
includes the unacceptable ban that prevents international
journalists from accessing Gaza,” he
said.
Fulfilling their duty
Following the
deadly 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel, Gaza was
placed under a complete siege.
Wael Al-Dahdouh, chief
of the Gaza bureau of the Al Jazeera network, recalled that
the enclave was isolated and water supply, electricity,
communications and the internet were cut
off.
Nevertheless, journalists continued to work amid
bombardment, deprivation, personal loss and
displacement.
“There were so many responsibilities
that we felt towards you, towards the whole world,” he
said in a video message.
“Because we realised that
if we did not fulfill our duty with our will, even if the
cost is our lives, then the world will not see what is
happening to two million people in this area as a result of
the Israeli genocide.”
Put pressure on Israel:
Mansour
The Permanent Observer of the Observer State
of Palestine, Riyad Mansour, saluted “the courageous
Palestinian journalists in Gaza” as “thanks to them,
this genocide in Gaza has become the most documented in
history.”
He appealed for participants to put
pressure on Israel to allow the entry of foreign
reporters.
“We should ask ourselves why Israel is
not allowing foreign aid into Gaza. Don’t accept their
security pretext. Foreign journalists were allowed in every
war zone except Gaza,” he said.
Protection, access
and accountability
Jodie Ginsberg, Chief Executive
Officer with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ),
underscored the need for protection and independent access
to Gaza, as well as accountability.
She stressed that
“allowing international access to Gaza is not a reflection
on Palestinian journalists” but “a norm that we should
be insisting upon, and a support to those Palestinian
journalists.”
Relatives also targeted
Nasser
Abu Bakr, Chairman of the Palestinian Journalists’
Syndicate, reported that more than 255 journalists were
killed in Gaza, representing 18 per cent of the overall
number in the Strip.
More than 500 were wounded and
Israel arrested over 200 others who were subjected to
extreme torture in prison. Additionally, relatives of
journalists also were killed or targeted.
He said the
syndicate and the International Union of Journalists are
ready to cooperate with the Secretary-General in submitting
a report detailing the systemic crimes perpetrated against
journalists in the Gaza Strip and the West
Bank.
Moreover, the time has come to implement UN Security
Council resolution 2222 (2015) which condemns impunity
for crimes against journalists.
“We want this
resolution to be implemented on the occupation, and those in
the occupation State to be held accountable for these crimes
against our journalists,” he said in a video
message.
Journalism vital to peace
The
Secretary-General’s message upheld the UN’s unwavering
commitment to achieve a two-State solution between Israelis
and Palestinians, and the work of journalists is vital in
building the informed global consensus required to realize
this goal.
The UN chief expressed hope that the
dialogue will “strengthen respect for press freedom and
the protection and safety of journalists in the Middle
East” and help in laying the foundation for a just and
lasting
peace.
