GENEVA, Sept 16 — A UN expert has accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists to conceal “genocide”, warning that the ongoing war has become the deadliest ever for media professionals.
GENEVA, Sept 16 — A UN expert has accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists to conceal “genocide”, warning that the ongoing war has become the deadliest ever for media professionals.
“The way journalists are being killed, silenced... is the cover-up of genocide,” said Irene Khan, UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, during a press briefing in Geneva.
According to the latest UN figures, at least 252 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since the conflict erupted following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Khan stressed that the toll is expected to rise as reports of new killings continue.
She noted that the death toll in Gaza has already surpassed the combined number of journalists killed in both World Wars, the Vietnam War, the conflicts in Yugoslavia, and the war in Afghanistan. By contrast, 14 journalists have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Khan argued that many of those killed in Gaza were deliberately targeted for their work documenting atrocities. She denounced Israeli “smear campaigns” labelling slain journalists as “terrorist supporters”, saying such tactics sought to discredit them and erase their reporting.
“It is not just about killing journalists — there is a clear attempt to kill the story,” she said.
The expert also condemned Israel’s ongoing refusal to grant access to international media, calling the situation “extremely unusual” and warning it sets a “terrible precedent” for press freedom.
“States must stop Israel before all journalists in Gaza are silenced,” Khan urged. — AFP
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