Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation’s military campaign on the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023, civilians and journalists have been systematically targeted, turning the region into a scene of what many are calling a genocide, backed, directly or indirectly, by certain regional and international powers.
In this context, the Government Media Office in Gaza has announced that the number of journalists killed has risen to 248, following the death of journalist Rasmi Jihad Salem, who was deliberately targeted.
In a statement, the Office strongly condemned the Israeli occupation’s systematic killing and assassination of Palestinian journalists, calling on the International Federation of Journalists, the Arab Journalists Union, the international community, and relevant international bodies to denounce these targeted crimes against journalists and media professionals in Gaza.
The deliberate targeting of journalists, alongside the mass killing of civilians, enforced starvation, forced displacement, and the large-scale destruction of homes and critical infrastructure—strongly indicates that what is unfolding in Gaza constitutes a war of genocide.
As of 7 October, the ongoing atrocities have resulted in 63,633 Palestinians killed, the majority of them children and women; 160,914 injured; over 9,000 missing persons; hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced; and a famine that has claimed the lives of 361 Palestinians, including 130 children.
International law, including the Geneva Conventions, explicitly obliges occupying forces to protect civilians and journalists, and criminalises any deliberate targeting of them. The repeated violations taking place in Gaza represent a clear and systematic breach of these obligations, reflecting a policy aimed at terrorising the civilian population and silencing the truth.
The continuation of this genocide necessitates an urgent response from the international community, not only through condemnation, but through meaningful accountability for those responsible for killing, destruction, and forced displacement.
Without urgent action, the basic human rights of hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians will continue to be threatened, and the international legal order will be further undermined.
