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Media Outlets Call For Protection of Gaza Journalists

A mourner reacts as Palestinians attend the funeral of Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, who according to the Arabic broadcaster was killed by an Israeli drone strike while reporting on bombing of a school sheltering displaced people. (Reuters)
A mourner reacts as Palestinians attend the funeral of Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, who according to the Arabic broadcaster was killed by an Israeli drone strike while reporting on bombing of a school sheltering displaced people. (Reuters)
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Media Outlets Call For Protection of Gaza Journalists

A mourner reacts as Palestinians attend the funeral of Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, who according to the Arabic broadcaster was killed by an Israeli drone strike while reporting on bombing of a school sheltering displaced people. (Reuters)
A mourner reacts as Palestinians attend the funeral of Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, who according to the Arabic broadcaster was killed by an Israeli drone strike while reporting on bombing of a school sheltering displaced people. (Reuters)

More than 30 news organizations signed an open letter Thursday expressing solidarity with journalists working in Gaza and calling for their protection and freedom to report.

The letter, coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists, was signed by global news agencies AFP, AP and Reuters, as well as other leading media outlets including the New York Times, BBC News and Israel's Haaretz.

"For nearly five months, journalists and media workers in Gaza -- overwhelmingly, the sole source of on-the-ground reporting from within the Palestinian territory -- have been working in unprecedented conditions," the letter said.

It noted that at least 89 journalists and media workers in Gaza have been killed in the war, according to the CPJ.

The Israel-Hamas war began following an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed 30,035 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

"Journalists are civilians and Israeli authorities must protect journalists as noncombatants according to international law," said the letter, also signed by the Association for International Broadcasters and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

"Those responsible for any violations of that longstanding protection should be held accountable,"

AFP has had a bureau and staff in Gaza for several decades.

Before the start of the war, the agency had a full bureau in Gaza City of 10 people, including text, photo and video reporters as well as administrative and technical staff.

The staff were all evacuated with their families to southern Gaza in early October when the Israeli army ordered Gaza City residents to move south. The office was subsequently damaged by an Israeli strike.

Several staff still remain in southern Gaza in precarious conditions.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.