African journalists condemn Palestinian counterparts’ killings in Gaza
A coalition of African journalists under the banner of African Journalists Against Genocide (AJAG) has issued a strong condemnation of what it described as the ‘intentional and deliberate targeting’ of Palestinian journalists in Gaza by Israeli forces. The group, founded by Nigerian broadcast journalist Ireti Bakare-Yusuf, comprises media professionals from over 20 African countries and […]
Five Al Jazeera journalists killed by Israel
A coalition of African journalists under the banner of African Journalists Against Genocide (AJAG) has issued a strong condemnation of what it described as the ‘intentional and deliberate targeting’ of Palestinian journalists in Gaza by Israeli forces.
The group, founded by Nigerian broadcast journalist Ireti Bakare-Yusuf, comprises media professionals from over 20 African countries and has called for urgent international action to hold Israel accountable.
In a press statement released on Wednesday, AJAG decried the killing of more than 250 journalists in Gaza since the escalation of hostilities, describing it as “the deadliest period for journalists in the 21st century.”
The group accused Israel of blocking international media access to the besieged enclave, thereby forcing the world to rely solely on local Palestinian journalists for coverage of the humanitarian crisis.
“The deliberate targeting of these journalists indicates the Israeli state’s clear strategy of suppressing the truth and silencing the media,” the statement read.
AJAG also released a video featuring journalists from across Africa speaking in unison against the killings. “We believe that our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza are being punished for simply telling the world the truth,” the coalition said.
The coalition emphasised that journalism is “the lifeblood of truth,” and that reporting on war crimes is not a criminal act. “Killing journalists is a crime,” AJAG declared. “The world’s silence and inaction make us all complicit in the murders of our Palestinian colleagues.”
AJAG called on national journalist unions, the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), and global press organisations to amplify their message and demand justice.
Since the start of the conflict, nearly 270 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, surpassing the death toll of any major war since the 1800s.
According to Brown University’s Costs of War project, more journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, than in the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan—combined.
Since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, its military operations have led to the deaths of 62,064 Palestinians and left more than 156,573 injured, according to the latest figures released by the local Health Ministry.
The ministry also confirmed three additional deaths from starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total number of famine-related fatalities to 266, including 112 children.