Pakistani journalists protest Israel's bombing of Iranian state TV
Footage of anchor Sahar Emami went viral on Monday in which she can be seen denouncing Israel at the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building before the live broadcast was interrupted by a huge blast. Shortly after, smoke and debris filled the screen.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) confirmed that Israel's strike on the IRIB building killed Nima Rajabpour, editor-in-chief of Khabar TV, and Masoumeh Azimi, a secretary at the state-run television channel. Israel and Iran have been targeting each other with missiles since Friday, when the Jewish state attacked Iran's nuclear facilities and military leadership.
Dozens of Pakistani journalists protested the move outside the Karachi Press Club. The protest was organized by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ). Journalists carried placards inscribed with messages condemning Israel, shouting slogans expressing support for the people of Gaza and Iran.
'It [Israel] has assassinated anyone across the world who tried to unmask its true face, anyone who tried to speak the truth,' PFUJ Secretary-General A.H. Khanzada told Arab News, accusing the Jewish state of killing journalists from Gaza to Iran.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has counted 178 journalists killed in Gaza by Israel since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded.
Khanzada urged the IFJ to redefine its global parameters of press freedom.
'If these are not corrected, many problems will arise — and these problems will affect the entire world,' he said, calling the response from global media organizations to the attack as 'insufficient.'
Aamir Latif, a former Karachi Press Club secretary, agreed that Israel was systematically silencing journalists.
'Israel is not in a business to tell the truth,' Latif said. 'In fact, it is in a business to block the truth. That is why it is targeting journalists whether it is Gaza or whether it is Iran,' he added.
Latif lamented Israel's moves to target hospitals, media workers and other protected entities in the Middle East, saying they were directly violating international laws.
Veteran journalist and former PFUJ secretary-general Mazhar Abbas called the Iranian TV bombardment a 'direct assault on freedom of expression.'
'The figure [of journalists being killed in Palestine] is nearly around 150, which is even far bigger than the journalists killed in the Second World War,' Abbas told Arab News.
KUJ President Nasrullah Chaudhry said Pakistani journalists stood in solidarity with their Iranian counterparts.
'Since October, we have documented Israeli war crimes against media in Gaza,' Chaudhry said. 'This is part of the same pattern.
'The media of Pakistan in general and Karachi in particular firmly stands against Israel aggression and assaults on journalists,' he told protesters.
The protest ended with Pakistani journalists pledging to continue highlighting what participants called the 'systematic targeting of truth tellers' by Israel across multiple conflict zones.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Israel's daily pauses fall short of easing Gaza suffering: UK
LONDON, GAZA: Israel's decision on Sunday to pause military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors falls short of what is needed to alleviate suffering in the enclave, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said. Lammy said in a statement that Israel's announcement was 'essential but long overdue,' and that access to aid must now be urgently accelerated over the coming hours and days. 'This announcement alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza,' Lammy said. 'We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered.' Lammy said that access to aid must now be urgently accelerated over the coming hours and days. The Israeli military said the 'tactical pause' in Gaza City, Deir Al-Balah and Muwasi, three areas with large populations, would increase humanitarian aid entering the territory. The pause runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until further notice. Jordan said it carried out three airdrops over Gaza, including one in cooperation with the UAE, dropping 25 tonnes of food and supplies on several locations. 'Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. Despite the annouoncement of temporary pauses, Israeli strikes killed at least 38 Palestinians from late Saturday into Sunday, including 23 seeking aid. An airstrike on a Gaza City apartment killed a woman and her four children. Another strike killed four people, including a boy, his mother and grandfather, in the eastern Zaytoun neighborhood. US President Donald Trump said Israel would have to make a decision on next steps in Gaza, adding that he did not know what would happen after moves by Israel to pull out of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with the Hamas militant group. Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying they had suddenly 'hardened' up on the issue. 'They don't want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,' Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, Scotland. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in southern Gaza on Sunday, the military said, a day after confirming another soldier had died of wounds sustained last week. The two soldiers, aged 20 and 22, served in the Golani Infantry Brigade's 51st Battalion. Israeli military sources said they were killed when their armored vehicle exploded in the city of Khan Yunis.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan, China discuss progress of CPEC projects, connectivity with Central Asia
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has met China's Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong and discussed progress of ongoing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and linking the corridor with Central Asian states for greater regional connectivity and economic stability, Pakistan's Press Information Department (PID) said on Sunday. Since 2013, Beijing has invested tens of billions of dollars in energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of CPEC, a major segment of China's Belt and Road Initiative that aims to build land and maritime trade routes linking Asia with Africa and Europe. In May, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to the expansion of CPEC to Afghanistan after the recent trilateral meeting in Beijing, while Pakistani and Chinese leaders have invited Central Asian republics in recent years to join CPEC to enhance regional connectivity and economic cooperation. At the meeting in Islamabad, both Pakistani and Chinese officials discussed the progress of ongoing CPEC projects and preparations for the upcoming Pakistan-China Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting, where key decisions are expected to be made. 'Connecting CPEC to Central Asian states will contribute to regional economic stability and economic cooperation,' Iqbal said as he reiterated his government's commitment to ensuring security of CPEC projects, according to PID. Despite massive Chinese investments, Pakistan has struggled to keep up its financial obligations regarding CPEC, while the undertaking has also been hit by militant attacks in recent years. Iqbal previously said the two sides will hold the JCC meeting at the end of July, at which they will approve roadmap for CPEC's Phase 2. The next phase would be based on five corridors, relating to growth, innovation, livelihoods, green energy, and open and inclusive development in the region, he told reporters at a briefing in Islamabad last month. Speaking at Sunday's meeting, he said the development of Gwadar port, which lies at the heart of CPEC in Pakistan's Balochistan, and Special Economic Zones was top priority of his government. 'The government is committed to fully capitalizing on the port's trade potential,' he said. During the meeting, Ambassador Jiang reaffirmed China's commitment to supporting Pakistan's development efforts, according to PID. 'He assured that bilateral cooperation will continue to expand in the coming years,' it said.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Gaza famine a death sentence delivered by global inaction
Famine in Gaza is no longer a speculative threat, nor is it merely a rhetorical tool to shame the international community into action. It is now a brutal, undeniable fact. The situation has evolved from a humanitarian crisis into a full-blown catastrophe and the numbers speak for themselves. According to the UN, 96 percent of Gaza's population faces acute food insecurity. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warns that at least 500,000 people are living under 'catastrophic' conditions — one step before mass starvation. These are not projections. They are the present realities. Gaza, already strangled by an 18-year blockade, is now walking barefoot into famine under the shadow of total siege and relentless bombardment. The current Israeli assault, which began in October 2023, has not only flattened entire neighborhoods and displaced more than 1.7 million people, it has also systematically targeted the infrastructure that makes survival possible: bakeries, food distribution centers, water facilities and even the UNRWA aid warehouses that once formed the backbone of humanitarian relief. Hospitals are collapsing. Children are dying — not only from bombs, but from hunger. Videos and photographs released by health workers in Khan Younis and northern Gaza show toddlers with protruding ribs, skeletal arms and lifeless eyes. Mothers have been filmed weeping as they try to feed their children with boiled grass and stale bread mixed with animal feed. These are not isolated cases — they are the norm in a place where malnutrition is spreading faster than any ceasefire can catch up. In previous conflicts, Gaza's suffering was often buried under the weight of geopolitical calculations and narratives of moral equivalence. This time, the truth has become too grotesque to ignore. The UN has repeatedly stated that Gaza is on the brink of famine. In June, the World Food Programme declared that 100 percent of Gaza's population is 'food insecure' — a statistic unprecedented in modern times. In March, famine was declared in northern Gaza by multiple humanitarian agencies, citing more than 30 children dying of starvation in just two hospitals. The rest of the deaths go undocumented, with bodies buried under rubble or in makeshift graves. To continue treating Gaza's starvation as a 'pressure tactic' used by Palestinian officials or international nongovernmental organizations is to participate in a lie that masks a genocide in progress. What we are witnessing is not a food crisis born of natural disaster or logistical failure. It is manufactured. It is the deliberate denial of food, water and medicine as a weapon of war — what international law classifies as collective punishment and, in some interpretations, genocide. Let us call it what it is: engineered starvation. And it is working. The scenes unfolding in Gaza are reminiscent of the worst famines in modern history: Ethiopia in the 1980s, Sudan's Darfur and the besieged cities of Syria. But there is one critical difference: never has the international community had such real-time access to the suffering — drone footage, eyewitness testimonies, satellite images — and still failed to meaningfully intervene. We cannot say we did not know. We know everything and yet we are doing nothing. Or worse — we are enabling. Standing with Gaza is no longer a political choice or a symbolic gesture — it is an existential test of our humanity. Hani Hazaimeh The Biden administration continued to send military aid to Israel, including bombs and surveillance technologies, despite multiple reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and even former UN officials calling for arms embargoes. European leaders offer lukewarm appeals for 'humanitarian pauses' while failing to impose any meaningful consequences. This is no longer about political alliances, strategic partnerships or counterterrorism narratives. Standing with Gaza is no longer a political choice or a symbolic gesture — it is an existential test of our humanity. In the face of children starving to death on live television, neutrality becomes complicity. Silence becomes endorsement. What is more, supporting Gaza today is not a matter of political affiliation or ideological alignment. It is not reserved for Muslims, Arabs or left-leaning activists. It is a universal moral imperative. Every human being who still believes in dignity, in life, in the right of a child to eat and sleep safely, has a role to play. This is not about Hamas. This is about humanity. The flood has reached its limit. The time for cautious statements and deferred action is over. The international system, including the UN Security Council and major humanitarian agencies, is facing a crisis of legitimacy. If these bodies cannot prevent the slow death of an entire population by hunger, what are they for? What is the value of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights if it cannot be applied to Gaza? What purpose does international law serve if starvation tactics are used with impunity? There must be steps taken — now. First, an immediate and unconditional ceasefire is the only way to begin halting the famine. Second, the complete and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid must be guaranteed by a binding international resolution, not vague promises. Third, accountability must follow. War crimes, including the deliberate starvation of civilians, must be investigated and prosecuted, no matter the perpetrator. Finally, there is a role for all of us as individuals. Speak up. Do not allow this atrocity to continue in your name. History will remember what we did — or did not do — when Gaza cried out not for help but for bread. In 2025, the world is being tested not just by war but by its own conscience. Will we choose humanity or will we rationalize genocide with politics and diplomatic fatigue? Gaza is dying, not in silence but in full view of the world. Let history record that we saw — and that some of us refused to look away.
