Gaza ceasefire: RSF calls for open borders for journalists and an end to impunity for Israel’s war crimes
In one year and three months of war in Gaza, the Israeli army has killed over 150 Palestinian journalists, including at least 41 who were killed while working. The ceasefire agreed on 15 January between Israel and Hamas must give journalists access to the Gaza Strip. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) continues to work for justice for all journalists who have been victims of this war.
The ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas on 15 January has ended over fifteen months of war that turned Palestine into the most dangerous territory in the world for journalists, according to RSF's 2024 Round-up. Since Israel’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip following the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 150 journalists in the besieged Palestinian enclave, including more than 41 slain on the job.
“For fifteen months, journalists in Gaza have been displaced, starved, slandered, threatened, injured, and killed by the Israeli army. Despite these dangers, they have continued to inform their fellow citizens and the world while foreign journalists were denied access to the territory. Gaza’s reporters are the pride of journalism. With the ceasefire agreement, the work of local and international reporters is more crucial than ever — it will go hand in hand with the work of the justice system. To this end, international journalists must be given independent access to the besieged territory as quickly as possible. To avoid increasing this war’s terrible death toll, the Israeli authorities must immediately authorise the hospitalisation of journalist Fadi al-Wahidi outside the Gaza Strip. RSF, which has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 7 October 2023, calls on the ICC once again to prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes against journalists in Gaza. We will continue our efforts to support Gazan journalism.
Al-Jazeera journalist Fadi al-Wahidi, gravely injured on 9 October 2024 while reporting from the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, is fighting for his life as the Israeli authorities continue to refuse his transferral to a hospital abroad, despite repeated calls from RSF. What’s more, two Palestinian photojournalists, Haytham Abdel Wahed and Nidal al-Wahidi, have been missing since 7 October 2023.
An immense need to rebuild the media
Gazan journalists are working in makeshift newsrooms in tents set up near hospitals in order to have access to electricity and internet. Despite their incredible destitution, they continued to inform the world from a desolate landscape. If the ceasefire agreement is to translate into lasting peace, considerable resources will need to be allocated to rebuilding the infrastructure of Gaza's media.
This reconstruction cannot take place without concrete action against impunity for the crimes Israel continued committing for over a year. On 24 September 2024, RSF filed its fourth complaint with the ICC for war crimes committed against journalists in Gaza by the Israeli army; the first complaint was filed on 1 November 2023.
Arrests in the West Bank, pressure in Israel
Overshadowed by Israel’s offensive in Gaza, the West Bank was the target of multiple abuses by Israeli authorities and settlers that did not spare journalists and media outlets. According to RSF's 2024 Round-up, the arrests of Palestinian journalists in the West Bank have made Israel one of the world's largest jails for media professionals.
The far-right Israeli government has used the state of war as an excuse to strengthen its grip on the media landscape. In an op-ed published in Haaretz, The Seventh Eye and Le Monde, RSF condemned draft laws that repress the media as well as the intimidation of Israeli journalists who criticise their government's actions.
