In this photo, a journalist holds the blood-covered camera belonging to Palestinian photojournalist Mariam Dagga, a journalist who freelanced for AP since the start of the war and who was killed in an Israeli strike on Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) praised the deal and called on Israel to immediately lift its restrictions on the entry of international journalists to the Gaza Strip.
“With the halt in fighting, we renew our urgent call for Israel to open the borders immediately and allow international media free and independent access to the Gaza Strip,” the FPA said.
It lamented that over the past two years, its repeated requests to enter Gaza have been “ignored,” while local Palestinian media workers “have risked their lives to provide tireless and brave reporting.”
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned that the ceasefire agreement has not guaranteed security and protection to embattled journalists.
Head of the RSF Middle East Desk Jonathan Dagher said that “nearly 220 of them [journalists] have been killed by the Israeli army in two years, and the reporters still alive in Gaza need immediate care, equipment and support.”
RSF called for “arrest warrants for the perpetrators of crimes against our fellow journalists in Gaza,” and demanded that exiled and foreign media be given full access and that local journalists wishing to leave be safely evacuated.
Immediately before the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Friday at noon, an Israeli airstrike wounded Arafat al-Khour, a photojournalist for Abu Dhabi TV, as he documented damage in the Sabra neighbourhood.
The RSF criticized the ceasefire text for allowing humanitarian aid but failing to demand guarantees for press access or protections for journalists.
The broader context remains grim: since October 2023, the Israeli army has reportedly killed nearly 220 journalists, including 56 targeted directly for their coverage of the Israeli genocide, and struck newsrooms, telecom infrastructure, and equipment, according to RSF.
However, the Gaza Government Media Office stated that the total number of journalists killed by Israel since the outbreak of its genocidal war on the strip is 254.
On 15 September, Israel killed three journalists—Mohamed Al-Kweifi of Shehab News Agency, Ayman Haniyeh of Al-Manara Media, and Eman Al-Zamli of Palestine News Network—in a series of targeted airstrikes.
Two days later, journalist Mohamed Alaa Al-Sawalhi, a cameraman for Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, was killed in an Israeli strike near Al-Shifa Medical Complex in western Gaza.
Earlier, on 10 August, Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, long regarded as “Gaza’s voice”, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a journalists’ tent outside Gaza City Hospital, along with his colleague Mohamed Qureiqa, photojournalist Ibrahim Zaher, Al Jazeera camera operator Mohammed Noufal, and freelance journalists Moamen Aliwa and Mohamed Khalidi., according to hospital officials.
In his will, originally written in April 2025 and released upon his death, al-Sharif wrote: “God knows that I gave everything I had—every effort, every ounce of strength—to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp. I hoped that God would prolong my life so I could return with my family and loved ones to our original hometown of Asqalan (al-Majdal), now under occupation.”
“If I die, then I die steadfast upon my principles, bearing witness before God that I am content with His decree, believing in meeting Him, and certain that what is with God is better and everlasting,” Al-Sharif concluded.
“O God, accept me among the martyrs, forgive me my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people and my family.”
The will's last line simply reads: “Do not forget Gaza.”
The RSF has filed five complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging it to act on escalating Israeli impunity against journalists.
Press groups say that without clear, enforceable protections for media workers and justice for those killed, the blackout on Gaza’s truth will continue even in silence.
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