Palestinian Territories – The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) has issued an urgent appeal for the medical evacuation of wounded Palestinian journalists in Gaza, particularly following the horrific Israeli army attack on Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, which killed five journalists and injured several others while they were carrying out their professional and humanitarian duties.
The Center highlights that several journalists sustained serious, life-threatening injuries, including:
Mohammed Fayeq suffered severe injuries that caused partial paralysis, now at risk of progressing into full paralysis if he does not receive urgent treatment abroad.
Jamal Baddah (25 years old) – cameraman for Palestine TV, suffered an above-knee amputation of his right leg, in addition to shrapnel wounds throughout his body. He is in urgent need of specialized treatment outside Gaza.
Hatem Omar (45 years old) – photojournalist, sustained shrapnel wounds to the head and requires immediate medical care that is unavailable in Gaza due to the crippling siege.
PJPC asserts that the ongoing denial of medical evacuation for injured journalists constitutes a compound crime, adding to Israel’s record of targeting Palestinian journalists, who have paid an unbearable price with their lives and injuries in pursuit of exposing the truth to the world.
Accordingly, PJPC issues an urgent appeal to:
the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and all international media organizations and press freedom bodies, to intervene immediately and ensure the evacuation of wounded journalists from Gaza for the treatment they desperately need—before it is too late.
The Center stresses that the silence of the international community in the face of these crimes only emboldens Israel to continue its policy of targeting journalists with impunity. It reaffirms that protecting journalists is integral to protecting the truth and exposing the ongoing war crimes committed against the Palestinian people.
