Gaza - Saba:
The Center for the Protection of Palestinian Journalists has condemned the killing of journalist Moamen Abu al-Auf, following an Israeli airstrike east of Gaza City, while he was covering a humanitarian mission with ambulance crews.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the center indicated that journalist Abu al-Auf is the fifth Palestinian journalist to be killed this June, bringing the number of journalists killed since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza in October 2023 to 227.
It noted that Israeli airstrikes targeted a group of journalists in the courtyard of the Baptist Hospital in central Gaza on June 6, resulting in the deaths of Suleiman Hajjaj, a correspondent for Palestine Today TV, and Ismail Badah, a journalist working for the same channel, in addition to journalist Samir al-Rifai from Shams News Agency.
The statement noted that journalist Ahmed Qaljah, a cameraman for Al-Arabi TV, died of wounds he had sustained earlier.
The Center condemned the continued "organized killing" of Palestinian journalists.
It renewed its call on the international community and the United Nations to "take immediate action to halt the policy of targeting media professionals and prevent the use of military force to obstruct their work."
The center emphasized that what is happening constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, emphasizing the need to "hold those responsible for these crimes accountable before international courts."
It called on the International Federation of Journalists, the Arab Journalists Union, and all international press organizations to condemn the systematic crimes against media professionals in Gaza.
The center pointed out that the repeated attacks on journalists amount to war crimes.
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