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ARTICLE 19 AND PARTNER ORGANISATIONS CALL ON UK PM, RISHI SUNAK TO
PROTECT JOURNALISTS IN GAZA

As the Israel–Gaza war continues, ARTICLE 19 joins multiple partners in
calling on the Government of the United Kingdom to protect journalists and
press freedom.

ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), English PEN, Irish
PEN, the National Union of Journalists, PEN International, Reporters
Without Borders (RSF), Scottish PEN, and Wales PEN Cymru have written to
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, calling on him and his government to take
urgent action to protect journalists, promote the conditions for safe and
unrestricted reporting on the Israel–Gaza conflict, and to prevent the UK
from potentially being associated with the commission of war crimes.

According to CPJ [3], as of 12 February, at least 85 journalists and media
workers – 78 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese – have been killed
since 7 October last year. Four journalists were killed in Hamas’ assault
on 7 October, and at least 81 journalists have been killed since, almost
all of them by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

There is growing evidence that, in some cases, Israeli forces may have
deliberately targeted journalists. Credible reports [4] by human rights and
media organisations indicate that the IDF strikes in southern Lebanon on 13
October that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured 6 other
journalists from Reuters, Al Jazeera, and Agence France-Presse were
unlawful and apparently deliberate. The IDF has also acknowledged
deliberately targeting a car in which journalists were travelling on 7
January, killing 2 journalists and seriously injuring a third. In at least
two other cases, journalists reported receiving threats from Israeli
officials and IDF officers before their family members were killed in Gaza.

THE TARGETED OR INDISCRIMINATE KILLING OF JOURNALISTS, IF COMMITTED
DELIBERATELY OR RECKLESSLY, IS A WAR CRIME.

RSF has already submitted two complaints to the International Criminal
Court regarding suspected war crimes against journalists in Gaza since 7
October, and the Court has confirmed that crimes against journalists will
be included in its investigation into the situation in Palestine.

Moreover, the UK Foreign Secretary has acknowledged he is worried that
international law may have been broken by Israel during this conflict.

However, to our knowledge, the British government has not yet issued a
public statement regarding the need for further protection of journalists
or calling on the IDF to ensure that their troops refrain from targeting
journalists. This is of grave concern considering the UK is a crucial
founding member of the Media Freedom Coalition and is a signatory to the
Coalition’s ‘Statement on the safety of journalists and media workers
in conflict’, which called for ‘all parties to the conflict to comply
with international law and guarantee the protection of journalists and
media workers’.

The UK has a long record of strong support for Israel, including military
aid, and is clearly one of Israel’s most influential partners. As such,
THE UK WILL BE JUDGED ON HOW IT USES THIS INFLUENCE TO ENSURE THAT ALL
PARTIES TO THE CONFLICT ABIDE BY INTERNATIONAL LAW.

Integral to this is the protection of journalists, not only because
journalists are civilians, but also because they play an indispensable role
in documenting and reporting on war crimes and other human rights
violations.

ARTICLE 19 believes that the UK government can and must do more to
effectively pursue accountability for journalists killed in the hostilities
and to protect and support local and international journalists covering
them.

The UK should use its considerable influence with the Israeli government to
press them to ensure that journalists are able to safely document military
operations and to shed light on their compliance with international
humanitarian law.

WHEREVER YOU MAY BE, YOU TOO CAN RAISE YOUR VOICE, ALONG WITH OURS, TO
PROTECT JOURNALISTS IN GAZA. 

SHARE OUR LETTER [5] AND USE IT TO WRITE TO YOUR LOCAL MP TODAY, AND URGE
OTHERS TO DO THE SAME.

SHARE OUR LETTER

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