News - Middle East: A Palestinian journalists' rights group has denounced the Tel Aviv regime’s “serious and continued escalations” against media workers and members of the press, saying that Israeli forces killed at least seven reporters in the Gaza Strip in January. 

The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) identified the fallen journalists as Omar al-Diraoui, Saed Abu Nabhan, Ahlam al-Taluli, Mohammed Bashir al-Talmis, Aqel Saleh, Ahmed al-Shiah and Ahmed Hisham Abu al-Rus.

The PJS said Israeli forces also killed nine family members of Palestinian media workers in January, and destroyed the homes of six of them.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has been one of the deadliest conflicts for journalists, with more than 200 killed over the course of 15 months.

Rights groups say many of the media workers were killed in targeted attacks.

The Geneva Conventions Article 79 of the Additional Protocol states that all journalists “engaged in dangerous professional missions in armed conflict areas shall be considered civilians … [and] shall be protected […] and without prejudice to the right of war correspondents accredited to the armed forces.”

Completely disregarding the provisions of the international law, the Israeli army went on a killing spree of Palestinian journalists for 15 months.

According to the Gaza Government Media Office, at least 205 have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Other counts put the number at 217.

Backed by the United States and its Western allies, Israel launched the war on Gaza, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Israeli regime in response to its decades-long campaign of oppression against Palestinians.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has led to the death of at least 48,189 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injury of 111,638 others since early October 2023.

A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement went into effect in Gaza on January 19, halting Israel's aggressive campaign against the coastal region.

Source: Press TV