Israel authorities have turned their wrath towards the media with the recent decision to shut down offices of the Al Jazeera News Agency-English channel the Middle East country, an action described by global watchdog Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) as the ‘last straw in press freedom’.
The CPJ, in a Facebook posting, lamented the action by Israeli authorities to shut down the media offices. It said the action to close down contravened the rights of the media houses to remain in the country arguing: “It’s completely unacceptable in a democratic country to ban and not allow its citizens to access a diverse set of voices, ” argued CPJ’s Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna.
CPJ urged Israel to introspect over its action which it contended was tantamount to flouting the rights of the media house and a threat to democracy.
“The space for press freedom is shrinking. [Israel is] actually enacting a regime of censorship” amid an unprecedented situation for journalists covering war,”
A while after Israel had attacked Palestine in the Gaza Strip on 7 October last year, threats on media covering the conflict escalated, prompting CPJ and other media right campaigners to raise voices of concern at the safety of the journalists caught in the fray.
The Israel defense forces (IDF) had indicated to Reuters and Agence France Press news agencies last October of its unwillingness to guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip if it struck anytime. This reaction was after they had sought assurances that their journalists would not be targeted by Israeli strikes.
Al Jazeera Media Network has reacted sharply over the Israeli action and has condemned the Israeli government’s decision to close its operations in Israel as a “criminal act”.
It warned that the country’s suppression of the free press “stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law”.
“Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information. Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences,” the network said in a statement.
Israeli authorities last week raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the Qatari-owned TV station’s local operations on Sunday, an Israeli official and an Al Jazeera source said citing security concerns.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet shut down the network for as long as the war in Gaza continues, saying it threatened national security.
Journalists stationed in Gaza face high risks risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and extensive power outages. The surging war between the two warring parties has escalated, claiming more lives amid ceasefire calls by the United States and other interest groups
Preliminary data by CPJ shows that as of May 7, at least 97 journalists and media workers were among the more than 35,000 killed since 7 October bombardments—with more than 34,000 Palestinian deaths in GAZA in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel.
The report shows that 92 Palestinian, 2 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese have lost their lives, 16 journalists reported injured, 4 journalists missing, 25 journalists arrested with multiple assaults, threats, cyber-attacks, censorship and killings of family members being perpetuated.
CPJ is reported to be also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes.
“Since the Israel-Gaza war began, journalists have been paying the highest price— their lives—to defend our right to the truth. Each time a journalist dies or is injured, we lose a fragment of that truth,” contends Martinez de la Serna.
“Journalists are civilians who are protected by international humanitarian law in times of conflict. Those responsible for their deaths face dual trials: one under international law and another before history’s unforgiving gaze.”
CPJ estimates a 100+ journalists and media workers, the vast majority Palestinian, have been killed in the first seven months of war in Gaza since it started on 7 October last year. As of 7 May, this year, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed that at least 97 journalists and media workers were among the more than 35,000 killed since the war began on October 7.
More than 34,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel have been recorded, CPJ says in its report.
