By Nurah Tape – The Palestine Chronicle  

“By providing the weapons being used to deliberately kill journalists, you are complicit in one of the gravest affronts to press freedom today.”

A group of more than 100 journalists, news outlets and press freedom organizations have urged the US government to “immediately cease” the transfer of all weapons to Israel.

“More than 160 journalists” have been killed by Israel since it launched its war on Gaza last October, they said in a letter addressed to US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Thursday, noting that this “is the largest recorded number of journalists killed in any war.”

“Israel’s military actions are not possible without U.S. weapons, U.S. military aid, and U.S. diplomatic support. By providing the weapons being used to deliberately kill journalists, you are complicit in one of the gravest affronts to press freedom today,” the letter stated.

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It comes just over a week after Palestinian journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi were killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted their vehicle.

“As journalists, publications and press freedom groups in solidarity with the courageous Palestinian journalists of Gaza, we call on you to do more to protect journalists and show unwavering support for free and independent media by supporting an arms embargo against Israel,” the letter said.

‘Military Censorship’

It further pointed out that Israel “has gone to great lengths to suppress media coverage of its war in Gaza, imposing military censorship on both its own journalists and international reporters operating in the country; and, with Egypt’s help, blocking all foreign journalists from Gaza.”

Israel shut down Al Jazeera, raided its office, seized its equipment, and blocked its broadcasts and website within the country, the letter stressed.

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The world, it said, “relies only on the Palestinian journalists in Gaza to report the truth about the war and Israel’s widespread violations of international law.”

Israel’s “deliberate targeting of these journalists seems intended to impose a near blackout on coverage of its assault on Gaza.”

Investigations by United Nations bodies, NGOs, and media organizations, “have all found instances of deliberate targeting of journalists,” the letter continued.

It also highlighted that Israel has killed journalists during the war outside of Gaza, such as on October 13, “when an Israeli Israeli tank fired across the Lebanese border at clearly identified press, killing a Reuters reporter and injuring six other journalists.”

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‘War Crime’

“Under international law, the intentional targeting of journalists is a war crime,” they said.

The letter further highlighted that while all governments are bound by international law protecting reporters, US domestic law also prohibits the State Department from providing assistance to units of foreign security forces credibly accused of gross violations of human rights.

“Israel’s well-documented pattern of extrajudicial executions of journalists is a gross violation of human rights,” the letter said.

Additionally, it said, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the American people’s right to receive information and ideas.

“By providing Israel with the weapons used to kill journalists, the State Department is abetting Israel’s violent suppression of journalism,” the group said.

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“The US is providing the weapons Israel continually uses to target Palestinian journalists in Gaza. This is a violation of International law and U.S. domestic law. We urge you to immediately cease the transfer of all weapons to Israel.”

The letter was signed by 113 journalists including Chris Hedges and Abby Martin, 20 news outlets including CounterPunch and Mondoweiss, and seven press freedom organizations including Courage Foundation, FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting) and Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Ongoing Genocide

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Tel Aviv is currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians since it began waging a devastating war on Gaza last October.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 40,005 Palestinians have been killed, and 92,401 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

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Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(The Palestine Chronicle)