On for World Press Freedom Day, UN says Journalists’ deaths in Gaza ‘deliberate’

UN officials believe the killing of journalists in the Gaza Strip is probably deliberate and the enclave is one of the deadliest places in the world for reporters, said Ajith Sunghay, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Sunghay answered Anadolu’s questions about Israel targeting journalists in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, for World Press Freedom Day on 3 May.

Emphasising that journalists do an incredible job in covering events in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Palestinian territories. Sunghay said that “over 210 Palestinian journalists have been killed since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate. In many cases, we believe that such killings have been probably intentional.

“In these cases where there are suggestions that journalists could have been killed intentionally, this could be war crimes, and they have to be investigated thoroughly – all the 210 killings or more, and perpetrators brought to justice. In other words, accountability for such killings. That’s not been the experience that I have gone through,” he said.

Sunghay drew attention to the responsibilities of third-party countries in relation to what is happening in Gaza, noting that those countries have an obligation under the Geneva Convention to ensure that a ceasefire is in place and to bring it to an end. By doing so, Sunghay said, they can also contribute to the protection of civilians and journalists.

READ: Israel army has killed 212 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since October 2023