Jonathan Dagger, Director of the Middle East office at Reporters Without Borders, confirmed that the “ongoing Israeli crimes” targeting journalists in the Gaza Strip are escalating due to a policy of impunity.

Statistics available to the organization reveal that more than 110 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since October 2023.

In this context, the organization launched a wide international campaign involving over 250 media outlets in 50 countries, aiming to exert intense pressure on Israeli forces to stop the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists.

This initiative represents the latest step in long efforts to mobilize international public opinion against what Dagger described as the “media blackout” imposed on the Strip.

Detailing the goals of this ambitious campaign, the regional official emphasized that the main demands focus on protecting journalists in Gaza and putting an end to the policy of impunity that facilitates the continuation of these crimes.

Additionally, the campaign calls for opening Gaza to global and Arab press to allow free coverage of events.

Besides these core demands, Dagger revealed an additional humanitarian request regarding the necessity for countries to receive journalists who need to leave the besieged Strip, whether for medical treatment or to continue their journalistic work. He pointed out that journalists in Gaza are completely trapped and cannot leave or enter.

On a parallel legal track, the organization’s official explained that documentation efforts started from the early days of the war and continue systematically.

Within these efforts, the organization has filed four official complaints with the International Criminal Court, demanding justice for the journalists who have fallen in the Strip.

As a result of this work, the organization succeeded in collecting documented and conclusive evidence concerning about 56 journalists, confirming direct and deliberate targeting of media professionals while performing their duties.

To illustrate the severity of this pattern, Dagger pointed to the attack on the 25th of last month that deliberately targeted five journalists at Nasser Hospital complex, including Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Salama and his colleagues from Reuters and other Western media.

He also reviewed a similar attack on August 10th, where the Israeli army targeted six Al Jazeera journalists, including correspondent Anas Al-Sharif and his colleagues. These repeated incidents confirm a systematic and deliberate pattern of targeting journalists.

Based on this conclusive evidence, the regional official outlined future pressure mechanisms, affirming that the campaign primarily seeks to express global media solidarity with Palestinian journalists.

At the same time, it aims to refute Israeli propaganda that attempts to tarnish the reputation of these journalists, which Dagger noted has “failed and not succeeded” in achieving its goals.

Regarding international legal action, the organization uses various pressure tools, calling on UN Security Council members to implement UN resolutions explicitly protecting journalists in conflict zones.

In this regard, Dagger stressed that journalists are considered civilians under international law, making their targeting a war crime by all legal measures.

The regional director confirmed that pressure will continue relentlessly by all available means, whether legal, media, or diplomatic, until these ongoing massacres against journalists in Gaza, lasting two years, finally stop.