Targeting Journalists In Gaza A Systematic Policy To Suppress Free Speech: QPC Chairman

DOHA: Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli war machine has been targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip, but Palestinian journalists have always been caught in the crossfire.

The massacre at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, which resulted in the deaths of five journalists last Monday, adds to a record that has so far claimed the lives of 247 journalists, according to data from the government office in Gaza.

Speaking to QNA regarding the turning point in the Palestinian cause and the targeting of journalists in Gaza, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Press Center Saad Al Rumaihi (pictured) stated that the Israeli assaults on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, represent a historic shift in the course of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

He added that the Palestinian people have recorded a heroic epic that will be immortalized in history. Now, as the second year nears its end, the struggle and resistance of Gaza's people continue, despite the imbalance of power between the two sides.

He explained that the Qatar Press Center has sought and continues to support the steadfastness of the people of Gaza through numerous media initiatives, seminars, exhibitions, news coverage, and other means, which it considers a duty as it lives through these events and follows their developments.

Regarding the objective of the Israeli entity in continuing its aggression on the devastated Strip, Al Rumaihi stressed that people cannot learn the facts and what is happening on the ground and the course of battles except through journalists and media professionals who deliver information to the public, as known in wars and major events.

He added that they are the unknown soldiers who stand bravely so that the world can see, hear, and read the news of these events and understand the reality and what is happening. Therefore, he accentuated, the Israeli occupation has deliberately silenced these voices as long as they convey to the world the true image and the tragedies faced by the people of Gaza.

He highlighted that the occupation can only achieve this through the most heinous and extreme violations, unfortunately, through the physical elimination of these great journalists.

He underscored that the Israeli assaults on Palestinian journalists clearly reveal Israel's insistence on imposing its unilateral media narrative, which contradicts the reality on the ground.

Chairman of the Qatar Press Center affirmed in his statements to QNA the situation requires urgent action to protect journalists, so that the matter does not remain a mere dream difficult to achieve.

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