Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Israel Thursday to stop “suffocating the press in Gaza.”

RSF detailed the numerous obstacles to free journalism that remain in Gaza one month after the ceasefire. Despite international support for the ceasefire, journalists in Gaza continue to die for their cause as they report on the dire situation in Gaza. The group called “for the blockade that is suffocating the press in Gaza to be lifted,” detailing the need for “multimedia and security equipment, internet and electricity” for Gaza’s journalists and “access to the territory” for foreign reporters and the Palestinian press. RSF said that Palestinian journalists continue to work amid the wide scale destruction of their homes, offices, livelihoods, and families, while they themselves fear being killed by Israeli forces. According to RSF figures, at least 180 media professionals have been killed in the last 15 months, including 42 killed with impunity. Since the October 7 Hamas-led attack, Palestine has become the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, according to the RSF.

As Free Press Unlimited has explained, the freedom of press is particularly important in times of war, where unbiased and unaltered media coverage can be hard to find. The “information provided by journalists is essential to understand what is happening, only through them does information come out that is not provided by either the Israeli government or Hamas.” However, many Palestinian journalists fear for their safety and feel abandoned by the international community. Abubaker Abed spoke on behalf of all Palestinian journalists when he said at a press conference that though Palestinian journalists “never stopped [narrating] our stories and [telling] you that we are being genocided,” little has been done to protect them. As the reporter said, “even the press vests we are wearing mark us as a target; they do not protect us at all. … [J]ournalism is not a crime. We [should not be] a target.”