Relatives of slain Palestinian journalists look to UN for justice

Relatives of Palestinian journalists killed during Israel’s recent military onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Thursday called on the United Nations to bring Israeli leaders to court.

During a protest staged outside the UN’s Gaza office, relatives of slain journalists carried banners reading, “Journalism isn’t a crime” and “Take leaders of the Israeli occupation to court.”

Riyad Hamad, spokesman for the relatives of slain journalists, called on the UN to prosecute Israeli leaders for targeting Palestinian journalists during the recent war on Gaza.

“We want the world to know that Israel has killed journalists and committed war crimes,” Hamad said at the protest.

“It did this because journalists had managed to document its terrible crimes against the Palestinians and the Gaza Strip,” he added.

Salama Maarouf, director of Gaza’s Government Media Center, which organized the protest, for her part, called for cancelling Israel’s membership in international organizations that promote freedom of speech.

At least 17 journalists were killed during Israel’s 51-day offensive, which finally ended on August 26 after Palestinian and Israeli negotiators signed a cease-fire deal in Cairo.

The war left more than 2,150 Palestinians dead, more than 11,000 injured and vast swathes of the coastal enclave in ruins.