GAZA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of journalists in Gaza on Saturday called on the international community to take urgent action to protect them from Israeli attacks.
They made the appeal during the funeral of photojournalist Saed Nabhan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.
At the funeral, furious journalists chanted slogans such as "Journalism is not a crime" and "You will not silence the truth," expressing their dissatisfaction with the increasing risks they face while working.
"What happened to Nabhan highlights the extent of threats we face every day. Despite this, we are committed to conveying the truth," said Ibrahim Qannan, a Palestinian journalist.
The death of Nabhan brings the number of journalists killed since October 2023 to 203, according to the media authorities in Gaza.
The Israeli army denied deliberately targeting journalists, saying in previous statements that "journalists are sometimes injured during military operations against targets that Israel considers security threats."
However, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate called the killing of media workers "a systematic policy to silence the Palestinian voice." The syndicate's deputy head, Tahseen Al-Astal, denounced the killings as violations of international laws that guarantee the protection of journalists.
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostages.
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 46,537, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday. ■
