Pressure on Israel for freedom of information in Gaza. Some sixty international organizations defending the press are calling on the European Union (EU) on Monday, August 26, to suspend its association agreement with the Hebrew state, after almost eleven months of attacks on media freedom and deaths. “unprecedented” of journalists in the war with Hamas.
Since the attack by the Islamist movement on October 7 on Israeli soil, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has taken a series of measures “to restrict media freedom which has effectively resulted in the establishment of a censorship regime”write the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), in this letter of which Agence France-Presse (AFP) has obtained a copy.
They are calling on EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis to suspend the association agreement – which covers trade in particular – and “targeted sanctions against those responsible” of human rights violations.
“Propaganda” and “disinformation”
Since October 7, more than 100 Palestinian journalists have died in the conflict, as well as two Israelis and three Lebanese, making it “the deadliest period” for the press for decades. Some of the victims may have been “targeted”accuse the signatory organizations.
The NGOs also recall the de facto ban on foreign journalists accessing the Gaza Strip and the “arbitrary detentions” of information professionals, with at least 49 of them arrested.
“The cumulative effect of these abuses creates the conditions for an information vacuum, and also leaves room for propaganda and disinformation.”point out the signatories.
“Protecting the lives of journalists”
They are demanding “maintain freedom” media, “protect the lives of journalists” And “put an end to impunity”ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers on August 29 in Brussels.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people abducted that day, 105 are still in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.
The Israeli military campaign launched in retaliation has left 40,405 dead and 93,468 wounded in the Palestinian territory, according to the Hamas government's health ministry on Sunday.
Source: Lemonde
