Minority Against Genocide.. 131 Israeli Journalists Call for an End to Targeting Gaza Journalists

On Monday, 131 Israeli journalists called for an immediate halt to the targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, and for an independent investigation into the operations that killed them, as part of a genocide supported by most of Israeli society.

On Sunday, the Gaza government media office announced that the death toll of journalists since October 7, 2023, had risen to 247, following the killing of journalist Islam Abed by an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City.

131 Israeli journalists signed a petition, which I reviewed, titled "Journalists Call for an End to the War." With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop.

This genocide has resulted in 63,557 dead and 160,660 injured Palestinians, most of whom are children and women, over 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and famine that has killed 348 Palestinians, including 127 children.

The journalists stated: "We are drafting this statement in light of the ongoing catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, particularly against the residents of the strip and the captives (Israeli prisoners)."

They added: "In the face of the horrific crisis affecting journalism across the country, which is created by Israel... We are appalled by the ongoing killing of female and male journalists in Gaza."

"According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (international), 168 journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza. In 2024, Israel earned the disgraceful title of being the country responsible for the highest number of journalist deaths that year," according to the statement.

They continued: "As for those journalists who have managed to survive, they continue to cover daily under impossible conditions."

They explained: "They often work under bombardment, without homes to shelter them, without internet connection or continuous electricity supply, and often without food for themselves and their families."

The Israeli journalists went on to say: "We express our full solidarity with our colleagues in Gaza, and we demand our government to immediately stop targeting them and to open an independent investigation into the cases of journalists' deaths."

They added that "at the same time that Israel continues to kill journalists in Gaza and publicly questions the credibility of all journalistic reports coming from the strip, it prevents foreign media from entering to cover what is happening there freely and independently and without dependency."

They continued: "We join the demand of the Foreign Press Association in Israel, which repeatedly approaches the Supreme Court demanding that journalists be allowed to enter Gaza freely, but these demands have so far been met with rejection."

Critically supporting the war, the journalists said: "We feel disappointed by the betrayal of many newsrooms in Israel to their role."

They added: "The humanitarian cost of the war on Gaza is obscured in the media, and the Israeli public does not receive the tools and knowledge it needs to analyze the reality."

"This packaged media approach, stemming from a mistaken perception of what is called 'the public interest,' obscures fundamental truths about military operations in Gaza and the West Bank and their repercussions on Palestinians, the captives (prisoners), soldiers, and society as a whole," according to the statement.

They affirmed that "military censorship is tightening its grip these days and causing severe damage to journalistic freedom, but the bigger problem facing journalism in Israel is self-censorship."

They continued: "Some media outlets provide a platform for explicit calls to commit war crimes, and even to commit genocide, alongside ongoing racial incitement."

The journalists said: "We believe that our basic humanitarian duty is to scream and demand an immediate end to this war, to reach a deal that guarantees the release of all captives, and to start rebuilding Gaza and rebuilding our lives."

They added: "Alongside engaging in negotiations and long-term solutions based on peace, equality, security, and freedom for all the inhabitants of this land."

They stated that their position comes "in the face of the ongoing massacre that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza, and the systematic starvation policy that has led to famine for hundreds of thousands and malnutrition for tens of thousands of children."

Also "in the face of the systematic destruction of the means of life in Gaza, the ongoing abandonment of the captives, and in front of a war that we fully recognize is a crime in itself and does not contribute in any way to our security," according to the statement.

Israel usually denies intentionally targeting journalists or claims that