Today, +972 Magazine joins over 250 media organizations in a global appeal calling for the protection of Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Launched by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the appeal demands an end to the impunity that has allowed the Israeli army to kill some 200 journalists since October 7, the lifting of Israel’s blockade preventing foreign reporters from entering the Strip, and safe passage for journalists who wish to leave, especially those in need of medical care.

Since the start of the onslaught, Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza. Despite this, our colleagues inside continue to document Israel’s bombardment under constant threat of death and injury, while also enduring hunger, forced displacement, and an engineered collapse of basic services and medical care. Without them, the world would hardly know what is happening in the besieged and isolated enclave.

CPJ has called the war on Gaza “the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists” in the organization’s history, putting the number killed at 189. The Gaza Media Center and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate estimate the number at 246, while the UN human rights office (OHCHR) puts it at 247.

Israel’s targeting of journalists is not incidental, but part of a deliberate attempt to silence reporting on atrocities committed against civilians in Gaza. A recent investigation by +972 and Local Call revealed that Israel has created a special team in the military known as the “Legitimization Cell,” tasked with smearing Palestinian journalists as Hamas fighters in an effort to counter global outrage over their killing. 

“The media blockade imposed on Gaza, combined with the massacre of nearly 200 journalists by the Israeli army, is enabling the total destruction and erasure of the blockaded territory,” Thibaut Bruttin, director general of RSF, said. “Israeli authorities are banning foreign journalists from entering and ruthlessly asserting their control over information. This is a methodical attempt to silence the facts, suppress the truth, and isolate the Palestinian press and population. 

“We call on governments, international institutions and heads of state to end their complicit silence, enforce the immediate opening of Gaza to foreign media, and uphold a principle that is frequently trampled: under international humanitarian law, killing a journalist is a war crime. This principle has been violated far too often and must now be enforced.”

Journalists are civilians, and their protection is an international obligation. Journalism is essential to exposing what is happening in Gaza and holding those responsible to account. We therefore call on the international community to uphold its duty to protect Palestinian journalists, to allow unrestricted access for foreign reporters, and to guarantee their safety.

We at +972 Magazine stand with our colleagues in Gaza and demand their protection.

Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence.

We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies.

This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza.

We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.

Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.