Latest news with #pressfreedom
Arab News
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pregnant Palestinian journalist killed in Israeli strike
LONDON: Palestinian journalist Walaa Al-Jaabari, who was reportedly pregnant, was killed along with her immediate family in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. Al-Jaabari, a newspaper editor for several local media outlets, died when her home in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood in southwest Gaza City was bombed. The strike also killed her husband, Amjad Al-Shaer, their four children, and her unborn baby. According to local reports, the explosion was so powerful it reportedly ejected the fetus from her womb. Arab News could not independently verify this claim or the authenticity of photos circulating online that appear to show a fetus wrapped in a shroud. Her death is the latest in what human rights and press freedom organizations have described as the systematic targeting of journalists in Gaza. On Wednesday, the International Federation of Journalists renewed its call for Israel to stop killing media workers and to allow international reporters access to the territory, which has been under an Israeli-imposed blockade for 21 months. More than 180 journalists — almost all Palestinians — have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli offensive, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Other organizations estimate the toll to be as high as 231. In at least a dozen cases, rights groups say there is evidence that Israeli forces deliberately targeted journalists, which they warn may constitute war crimes. No independent reporters have been permitted entry into Gaza throughout the war, apart from a handful of tightly controlled, brief 'embed' visits with Israeli troops. Israeli authorities have repeatedly refused to lift the ban, citing security concerns and the risks of allowing journalists to operate freely in the conflict zone. The blockade has placed immense pressure on local reporters, who face extreme working conditions, including limited access to electricity, food, and Internet connectivity. On Thursday, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC issued a joint statement urging Israel to allow journalists access to Gaza and permit the entry of humanitarian supplies. 'We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,' the statement said. 'For many months, these independent journalists have been the world's eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering.'
LBCI
19 hours ago
- Politics
- LBCI
AFP, AP, Reuters, and BBC urge Israel 'to allow journalists in and out of Gaza'
International news agencies Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP), and Reuters, as well as the BBC, called on Israel on Thursday to allow journalists in and out of Gaza, which is subject to a strict blockade. "We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families," the media groups said in a joint statement, adding: "We once again urge the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza."
Jordan Times
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Jordan Times
France's top diplomat calls for foreign press access to Gaza
PARIS — French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday called on Israel to allow foreign press into the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza, as warnings of famine mount after 21 months of war. He spoke after the AFP news agency warned that the lives of Palestinian freelance journalists it was working with in Gaza were in danger and urged Israel to allow them and their families to leave the occupied coastal territory. "I ask that the free and independent press be allowed to access Gaza to show what is happening there and to bear witness," Barrot told France Inter radio in an interview from eastern Ukraine. Asked if France would help AFP stringers leave Gaza, Barrot said France was "addressing the issue" and hoped to be able to evacuate freelancers working with French journalists "in the coming weeks". On Monday, an association of journalists at AFP called the Societe des Journalistes (Society of Journalists) sounded the alarm, urging "immediate intervention" to help reporters working with the agency in Gaza. The SDJ cited the example of one such freelancer, a 30-year-old living with his family in Gaza City, who reported on Sunday that his older brother "fell because of hunger". "We have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had injuries and prisoners in our ranks, but none of us can remember seeing a colleague die of starvation," it said. AFP management responded in a statement posted on X and Instagram which said that it shared the anguish about the "dire situation" of colleagues in Gaza. "Since October 7, Israel has prohibited access to the Gaza Strip for all international journalists. "In this context, the work of our Palestinian freelancers is crucial to inform the world," it said. "But their lives are in danger, which is why we urge the Israeli authorities to allow their immediate evacuation along with their families." AFP evacuated its eight staff members and their families from Gaza between January and April 2024. Barrot called for an "immediate ceasefire" after Israel on Monday expanded military operations to the central city of Deir el-Balah. "There is no longer any justification for the Israeli army's military operations in Gaza," he said. "This is an offensive that will exacerbate an already catastrophic situation and cause new forced displacements of populations, which we condemn in the strongest terms."
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera calls for global action to protect Gaza's journalists
Al Jazeera Media Network has urgently called upon the journalistic community, press freedom organisations, and relevant legal bodies to take decisive action to halt the forced starvation and crimes against journalists and media professionals in Gaza. For more than 21 months, the Israeli bombardment and the systematic starvation of the nearly two million people of Gaza have pushed an entire population to the brink of survival. The journalists on the ground, who have courageously reported on this ongoing genocide, have risked their lives and the safety of their families to shed light on these atrocities. However, they now find themselves fighting for their own survival. On July 19, Al Jazeera journalists began posting heart-wrenching messages on social media, signalling that their capacity to continue was waning. One powerful post by Anas al-Shariff, Al Jazeera Arabic channel correspondent in Gaza, stated, 'I haven't stopped covering for a moment in 21 months, and today, I say it outright … And with indescribable pain. I am drowning in hunger, trembling in exhaustion, and resisting the fainting that follows me every moment … Gaza is dying. And we die with it.' As these brave journalists continue to document the harrowing realities in Gaza, they are often overlooked, reduced to mere informants rather than being acknowledged as witnesses to their own stories. Mostefa Souag, director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, commenting on the plight of journalists in Gaza, stated, 'We owe it to the courageous journalists in Gaza to amplify their voices and put an end to the unbearable suffering they are enduring due to forced starvation and targeted killings by Israeli occupation forces.' 'The journalistic community and the world bear an immense responsibility; it is our duty to raise our voices and mobilise all available means to support our colleagues in this noble profession. If we fail to act now, we risk a future where there may be no one left to tell our stories. Our inaction will be recorded in history as a monumental failure to protect our fellow journalists and a betrayal of the principles that every journalist strives to uphold,' he added. Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed five Al Jazeera journalists – Samer Abudaqa, Hamza Dahdouh, Ismail al-Ghoul, Ahmed al-Louh, and Hossam Shabat – and many of the family members of Al Jazeera and other journalists. Yet, these courageous journalists, along with their colleagues, refuse to succumb to the threats and pressure tactics employed by the Israeli authorities to silence them. Submission to such intimidation would have resulted in an almost total blackout of coverage of the ongoing genocide, forced starvation, and crimes against humanity inflicted upon the civilian population of Gaza. Al Jazeera Media Network calls for immediate action by concerned international organisations to bring an end to this forced starvation that does not spare journalists who are the bearers of truth.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Atlanta reporter detained by Ice ‘punished for his journalism', rights groups say
Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran journalist imprisoned in a south Georgia immigration detention center after being arrested covering a 'No Kings Day' protest in June, is being 'punished for his journalism', first amendment rights groups said. 'The charges were dropped, yet he remains detained by Ice,' said José Zamora, the regional director for the Americas at the Committee to Protect Journalists, during a press conference on Tuesday morning at the Georgia capitol with Guevara's attorneys and family. 'Let's be clear, Mario is being punished for his journalism. He is now the only journalist in prison in the US in direct retaliation for his reporting.' A police officer from the city of Doraville in north DeKalb county arrested Guevara on 14 June on misdemeanor charges of pedestrian in the roadway, failure to disperse and obstruction while Guevara was covering a protest in an immigrant-heavy neighborhood. Guevara is widely followed by a Spanish-speaking audience for his coverage of immigration raids in Georgia, and more than 1 million people were watching his livestream on Facebook when he was arrested. Guevara, a native of El Salvador, has been in the US for more than 20 years. While his petition for asylum was rejected in 2012, his deportation was administratively closed in an appeal, and he has both a work permit and a pending application for a green card, his attorney Giovanni Diaz said. Though charges from the protest were quickly dropped, the sheriff of nearby Gwinnett county laid a second set of unrelated misdemeanor traffic charges shortly after Guevara's arrest. The Gwinnett county solicitor subsequently dropped those charges as well, but not before Gwinnett's sheriff's office seized his cell phone with a search warrant. Guevara's cell phone has not been returned, and it is unclear where it is, what data has been transferred from it or whether that data has been shared with federal agencies, Diaz said. 'Everybody's saying we don't see a warrant in the system,' Diaz said, describing his office's inquiries with the sheriff and other agencies. 'So, one of two things happened. Some other agency that hasn't contacted us took it – US attorney's [office], Ice, somebody else has it – or the phone was just plain stolen. 'I think it's par for the course, considering the government's conduct in this case. We're doing this, at least initially, to see if we get the phone back, but again, if they don't give the phone back, its another reason to file a lawsuit in federal court.' Guevara's family was forced to make an extortion payment after another inmate threatened him while he was briefly held in general population in the federal prison in Atlanta. Guevara is now being held in isolation, which may help protect him, but also limits his ability to report on conditions at the Folkston immigration center, set to become the largest Ice detention center in the US. 'With every day that passes, we are losing time that we will never get back,' said his daughter Katherine Guevara. 'I know so many others in the same situation understand it all too well. I'm deeply disappointed with this country. This is not just about one journalist. This is about what kind of country we want to be. If a government can punish a reporter for doing his job, what message does this send? What protections are left for the rest of us?'
