Open letter: Our media colleagues in Gaza are in mortal danger and must be evacuated
For more than 18 months, these Palestinian journalists have been the eyes and ears of our newsrooms, keeping you informed about the ongoing horror taking place in the territory as the Israeli government obstructs the international press from covering the war by denying it access to the Gaza Strip. Without them, we would be drastically impeded from gathering survivor testimonies, documenting the destruction of hospitals, following the repeated displacement of the population or having any understanding of the scale of the humanitarian tragedy currently unfolding in the Middle East.
Since the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023 and Israel's responding offensive, more than 200 of our Gazan colleagues have died, according to figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. According to researchers from Brown University in the US, the number of journalists killed during the past eighteen months in Gaza exceeds the total number killed in both World Wars and five other major conflicts of the past 150 years put together.
Today, as Benjamin Netanyahu's government seeks to take control of the entire Gaza Strip, our colleagues and their families are in mortal danger. Rami Al Meghari was shot at as he was driving home from a reporting trip. His daughter miraculously survived a bombardment. Fadi Hossam and his family survived a strike in Khan Younis. Kamal Abu Shabab's house in the northern Gaza Strip was destroyed by an Israeli strike and then bulldozed. Hassan Jaber, victim of a stroke, cannot receive treatment in a territory whose health system has been almost completely destroyed by Israel. And all of them, with the more than two million other Gazans, are threatened by famine.
Faced with this danger, and after French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the 'intolerable level of suffering' of Gazan civilians while the international community fails to impose a ceasefire, we call on the French authorities to do everything in their power to evacuate our colleagues and their families and bring them to safety.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
26 minutes ago
- LeMonde
93 Palestinians killed by Israeli army in Gaza while trying to collect aid, civil defense says
Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians trying to collect humanitarian aid in the war-torn Palestinian territory on Sunday, July 20, killing 93 people and wounding dozens more. Eighty were killed as truckloads of aid arrived in the north, while nine others were reported shot near an aid point close to Rafah in the south, where dozens of people lost their lives just 24 hours earlier. Four were killed near another aid site in Khan Yunis, also in the south, agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP. The UN World Food Programme said its 25-truck convoy carrying food aid "encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire" near Gaza City, soon after it crossed from Israel and cleared checkpoints. Israel's military disputed the death toll and said soldiers had fired warning shots "to remove an immediate threat posed to them" as thousands gathered near Gaza City. Deaths of civilians seeking aid have become a regular occurrence in Gaza, with the authorities blaming Israeli fire as crowds facing chronic shortages of food and other essentials flock in huge numbers to aid centers. The UN said earlier this month that nearly 800 aid-seekers had been killed since late May, including on the routes of aid convoys. 'Sniper' fire In Gaza City, Qasem Abu Khater, 36, told AFP he had rushed to try to get a bag of flour but instead found a desperate crowd of thousands and "deadly overcrowding and pushing." "The tanks were firing shells randomly at us and Israeli sniper soldiers were shooting as if they were hunting animals in a forest," he added. "Dozens of people were martyred right before my eyes and no one could save anyone." The WFP condemned violence against civilians seeking aid as "completely unacceptable." Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties. The army says it works to avoid harm to civilians, and that this month it issued new instructions to its troops on the ground "following lessons learned" from a spate of similar incidents. Israel on Sunday withdrew the residency permit of head of the OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) office in Israel, Jonathan Whittall, who has repeatedly condemned the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a post to X, accused him of spreading lies about the war in Gaza. The war was sparked by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 58,895 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Local France
2 hours ago
- Local France
European powers plan fresh nuclear talks with Iran: German diplomatic source
The European powers, known as the E3, "are in contact with Iran to schedule further talks for the coming week", the source said, following warnings from the trio that international sanctions against Iran could be reactivated if Tehran does not resume negotiations. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported that Tehran had agreed to hold talks with the three European countries, citing an unnamed source. Consultations are ongoing regarding a date and location for the talks, the report said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a call Friday with his British, French and German counterparts and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. During the call, the Europeans warned that if Iran did not return to talks soon, they would activate a so-called "snapback" mechanism to reimpose sanctions lifted in a 2015 deal to curb Tehran's nuclear output. Iran and the United States had held several rounds of nuclear negotiations through Omani mediators before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran on June 13. However, US President Donald Trump's decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities effectively ended the talks. Advertisement "Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. That is why Germany, France and the United Kingdom are continuing to work intensively in the E3 format to find a sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear programme," the German source said. Iran denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons. The 2015 deal between Iran and world powers, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), placed significant restrictions on Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. But the hard-won deal began to unravel in 2018, during Trump's first presidency, when the United States walked away from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran. "If no solution is reached over the summer, snapback remains an option for the E3," the German source said.
LeMonde
4 hours ago
- LeMonde
One million sign French petition against law unbanning bee-killing pesticide
More than a million people had by Sunday, July 20, signed a petition urging the French government to ditch a law allowing the reintroduction of a banned pesticide known to kill bees. The so-called "Duplomb law" has stirred public anger for permitting a return of acetamiprid – a chemical known to be toxic to pollinators such as bees and to ecosystems. It was adopted on July 8 but has not yet come into effect. A 23-year-old master's student launched the petition against the law on July 10, with support quickly snowballing with the backing of many, including actors and several left-wing lawmakers. More than 500,000 people signed it in 24 hours from Saturday and Sunday alone. The law's proponents argue farmers face too much regulation in France as is, and allowing them to use acetamiprid again would help reduce the constraints they face. President Assemblée Nationale Yaël Braun-Pivet on Sunday ruled out abandoning the legislation, named after the conservative lawmaker who proposed it, as it would "save a certain number of our farmers." The petition's author, Eléonore Pattery, who describes herself as "a future environmental health professional," called the new law a "scientific, ethical, environmental and public health aberration." "It represents a frontal attack on public health, biodiversity, the coherence of climate policies, food security, and common sense," she said. 'Bee killer' Acetamiprid has been banned in France since 2018, but remains legal within the European Union. The insecticide is particularly sought after by beet and hazelnut growers, who say they have no alternative against pests and face unfair competition. On the other hand, beekeepers have branded the chemical "a bee killer." Its effects on humans are also a source of concern but, in the absence of large-scale studies, its risks remain unclear. The petition calls for the "immediate repeal" of the law and a "citizen-led consultation involving health, agricultural, environmental and legal stakeholders." Petitions do not in themselves trigger a review or repeal of the legislation but unprecedented public support may prompt renewed parliamentary discussion on the matter. Under French rules, if a petition reaches 500,000 verified signatures, the Assemblée Nationale may choose to hold a public debate limited to the content of the petition itself. Braun-Pivet told the broadcaster Franceinfo on Sunday she would be in favour of such a debate, but lawmakers "could not in any case go back on the law which has been voted through." In late June, ahead of the law's passage, several thousand demonstrators – including farmers, environmental organisations and scientists – rallied across France calling for the bill to be withdrawn.
