News - Middle East: Press unions and organizations in Italy have called on the Italian government and the European Union to pressure the Tel Aviv regime to allow unrestricted and immediate access for foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip. 

Representatives from the National Federation of Italian Press (FNSI), the National Council of the Order of Journalists (ODG), and the Justice and Peace in the Middle East group held a joint press conference at the Foreign Press Association in Rome on Wednesday, urging prompt action to pressure the Israeli regime.

They called on the Italian government and the European Commission to help remove the blockade preventing international journalists from accessing Gaza and put an end to press limitations in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds.

Gianni Giovannetti, representing the Justice and Peace in the Middle East group, said that almost 300 journalists have lost their lives in Gaza since the onset of the Israeli genocidal campaign on October 7, 2023.

“We believe that killing journalists means killing the truth,” he noted.

Giovannetti emphasized that journalists' demand for access to Gaza is fundamentally rooted in the need to uphold the right to information.

FNSI Secretary General Alessandra Costante, for her part, underlined the need for an unbiased perspective to validate the reports provided by their colleagues who lost their lives in Gaza.

In a video message, Palestinian journalist al-Hassan Selmi from Gaza said that since the ceaA load of newly disclosed emails has shed light on the relationship between sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and US Ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Syria Tom Barrack.

On Wednesday, the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a trove of roughly 20,000 pages of material after receiving it from the Epstein estate.

In one of the messages exchanged in March 2016, Epstein wrote to Barrack, "Send photos of you and child. Make me smile."

The message reportedly came not long after Epstein told Barrack he was receiving "many calls" about his friendship with Donald Trump but was choosing not to respond. Barrack had earlier suggested the two men should "catch up."

Following Epstein’s death, the private equity investor faced federal charges related to alleged foreign lobbying for the United Arab Emirates but was acquitted by a US court.

The US ambassador to Turkey, however, continues his corporate and political work despite the disclosed emails.

By the time Epstein and Barrack exchanged emails, Epstein had already served about a year in jail for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl he had hired as a "masseuse" and paid in cash.

He was again arrested in 2019 for further sex offenses. He was called dead while serving his term in prison.

The latest documents indicate the breadth of Epstein's social and political network during this period, with the cache also containing messages between Epstein and several prominent figures, including economist Larry Summers.

US Democrats on the committee had also released a smaller set of Epstein emails earlier on Wednesday.

Those earlier documents included messages in which Epstein claimed that Trump knew about the young women who visited his properties, saying that the US president had once spent "hours" with one of them.

The publication of the documents has renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s connections to influential political and business figures, more than six years after his death.

Following his death, reports emerged pointing to Epstein having extensive ties to Israeli intelligence. Investigations reveal that senior Israeli intelligence officers, such as Yoni Koren, stayed at Epstein's Manhattan residence for weeks, and Epstein coordinated at least one security deal involving Israel and Mongolia.

Former Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben-Menashe has repeatedly claimed that both Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell were involved in early blackmail and arms deals for Israeli intelligence, dating back to the 1980s, sometimes in cooperation with Ghislaine's father, Robert Maxwell, himself widely acknowledged as a Mossad asset.

The documents further show that Epstein had ties with powerful Israeli figures, including former prime minister Ehud Barak, who visited Epstein's properties frequently and co-founded tech ventures with him, including early funding for the surveillance-technology company now known as Carbyne.

Other leaked materials indicate that Epstein sought to assist Barrack in advancing Israeli security and technology projects abroad, including discussions involving African and Asian governments.

Source: Press TV