The commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has condemned Israeli authorities for barring international journalists from entering the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, calling the restriction a “ban on reporting the truth.”
Philippe Lazzarini, in a post published on the social media platform X, considered the measure to be unprecedented in any other conflict in modern history.
He emphasized that such practices are “the perfect recipe for fueling media disinformation, deepening polarization, and obscuring humanity.”
Lazzarini called for the “lifting of the ban” imposed on international media outlets in the Gaza Strip, for international journalists to be allowed to work and report independently from the territory, and for support for their Palestinian colleagues who continue to carry out their heroic work, paying a heavy price.
The remarks come as a Palestinian photojournalist succumbed to injuries incurred during Israel’s airstrike on a media tent at al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on Thursday, raising the total number of journalists killed in that single strike to four.
A medical source reported on Friday that Ahmad Qalja died from his injuries sustained in Thursday’s lethal drone strike, which also resulted in the deaths of three additional journalists and left four others injured.
The Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed that following Qalja’s death, the total count of Palestinian journalists who have lost their lives due to Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023, has now risen to 226. The figure comprises 30 female journalists and one journalist from the occupied West Bank.
The deadly attack came one day after the US vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution that called for an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip.
Slovenia proposed the draft resolution on behalf of the Security Council’s 10 elected members — Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Pakistan, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Slovenia — and received 14 votes.
The Israeli military resumed bombardment of Gaza on March 18, killing thousands of Palestinians, and injuring many others, after it shattered the 2-month ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian group Hamas and the deal on the exchange of Israeli captives with Palestinian abductees.
At least 54,772 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 125,834 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged coastal territory.
