The risk is that there will be no evidence of possible war crimes and they will not be documented.
Israel has stepped up its systematic attacks on journalists and the media since the country launched its latest military operation in northern Gaza, a press freedom organization says. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
According to the organization, there are hardly any professional journalists left in the northern parts of the strip who could document Israel’s actions. Several international actors have described Israel’s attack as ethnic cleansing.
According to CPJ, the risk is that there will be no evidence of possible war crimes and they will not be documented. The organization lists at least the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterresthe Jordanian foreign minister and the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem described Israel’s attack as ethnic cleansing.
“Crucially important witnesses”
CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Sernan according to Israel is believed to be forcing Palestinians out of the northern parts of Gaza with the so-called “starve or leave” tactic.
“It seems clear that the systematic attacks on the media and the efforts to question the few remaining journalists are a deliberate tactic to prevent the world from seeing what Israel is doing there,” de la Serna said in a CPJ news release.
– Journalists are crucially important witnesses during the war, without them the world cannot write history, he continues.
Israel began its devastating attack in early October by striking the town of Jabalia, from where the attack spread to the entire northern part of Gaza. Israel has not allowed international media independent access to Gaza during the second year of the war.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, since the beginning of October last year, Israel has killed at least 43,500 people in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been civilians, reports the AFP news agency. The UN considers the ministry’s figures to be reliable.