Press freedom organizations and human rights groups collectively called on the EU in a letter on Monday to take action against Israeli authorities’ media freedom violations.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), alongside 59 other signatories, including Human Rights Watch, petitioned European leaders to “take action against the Israeli authorities’ unprecedented killing of journalists and other violations of media freedom.” The letter demanded the EU to “unequivocally and publicly ask that Israel” meet specific demands on press freedom including prioritizing protecting journalists’ lives, upholding the freedom to report and ensuring accountability. In addition, the coalition called for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement alongside the implementation of sanctions targeting the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and other accountable parties.
Addressed to EU High Representative Josep Borrell, European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and Foreign Ministries of all EU Member States, the organizations highlighted several “widespread and systematic abuses” perpetrated by Israeli authorities and documented by sources including Palestinian, Israeli and international NGOs, UN experts and the International Court of Justice. Among these, the “unprecedented” and “targeted” killings of journalists and the restriction on media access to Gaza are highlighted as especially concerning.
The CPJ found that the IDF had “directly targeted and killed at least 5 journalists,” which is a figure estimated to be higher by other organizations. Pointing to the extreme restrictions Israel has enforced regarding access to Gaza, over 70 organizations have “urged that Israel grant independent access to Gaza” to restore frontline reporting. The letter further referenced the recorded killings of over 100 Palestinian journalists and media workers in Gaza, two Israeli and three Lebanese journalists, most of whom were wearing press insignia at the time.
Addressing the record-high of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances of journalists and the increasing torture and mistreatment allegations against Israeli authorities, the coalition also called for the release of “all Palestinian journalists from administrative detention,” pressing for guarantees to journalists’ safety. Censorship and limitations to media freedom in Israel through actions such as legislation banning international news outlets’ broadcasting and confiscation of the Associated Press’ equipment were admonished, with calls for conducting “transparent, independent” investigations, aligned with “internationally accepted practices.”
The letter also condemned the IDF’s “longstanding pattern of impunity that predates the current conflict,” underlining the vitality of allowing independent investigators such as UN special rapporteurs and International Criminal Court investigators “unrestricted access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
The IDF has expressed its commitment to protecting civilians, including journalists, in the war against Hamas in Gaza and has claimed the “IDF does not target journalists” and “is heavily invested in maintaining the movement and freedom of the press.”
The letter, acknowledging Israel’s claim that its actions are motivated by the safety of its people, stated that “history shows that censorship and the denial of the right to information is a flawed path to peace or security.”
