Over 100 journalists urge US to impose arms embargo on Israel

More than 100 journalists have called on the administration of US President Joe Biden to impose a ban on weapons transfers to Israel over the occupying regime’s killing of Palestinian media persons and reporters in its months-long aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.

The call was made in a letter addressed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which was signed by 113 journalists, seven press freedom organizations and 20 news outlets as Israeli forces have claimed the lives of more than 160 Palestinian journalists since the Gaza war in October last year.

“As journalists, publications and press freedom groups in solidarity with the courageous Palestinian journalists of Gaza, we call on you to do more to protect journalists and show unwavering support for free and independent media by supporting an arms embargo against Israel,” the letter said.

“Israel’s deliberate targeting of journalists follows a longstanding pattern by the Israeli regime to suppress truthful reporting on its treatment of Palestinians and its war in Gaza. By providing Israel with the weapons used to kill journalists, the State Department is abetting Israel’s violent suppression of journalism.”

Underlining the US complicity in Israel’s crimes due to its unwavering support for Tel Aviv, the letter also pointed to the ways in which Israel has suppressed coverage of its war on Gaza, including occasional internet outages, barring foreign reporters from Gaza and the raid of Al Jazeera’s office in occupied al-Quds.

“Israel has gone to great lengths to suppress media coverage of its war in Gaza, imposing military censorship on both its own journalists and international reporters. The world relies only on the Palestinian journalists in Gaza to report the truth about the war and Israel’s widespread violations of international law,” the signatories wrote.

“Israel’s military actions are not possible without US weapons, US military aid, and US diplomatic support. By providing the weapons being used to deliberately kill journalists, you are complicit in one of the gravest affronts to press freedom today.”

Stressing that the intentional targeting of journalists is a war crime under international law, the letter said, “The US is providing the weapons Israel continually uses to target Palestinian journalists in Gaza. This is a violation of International law and US domestic law. We urge you to immediately cease the transfer of all weapons to Israel.”

Israel kills 2 more journalists in Gaza Strip: Report

The regime killed two Al Jazeera journalists after blowing up a vehicle west of Gaza City.

The letter comes just less than a fortnight after the Israeli occupation killed Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and his camera operator Rami al-Rifi after targeting their car with a missile in Gaza City.

Israel has killed a staggering number of journalists and media workers throughout its 10-month war on Gaza.

According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, 160 journalists and reporters have perished at the hands of the regime — the largest number of journalists killed during a war in recorded history. By comparison, 69 journalists were killed during World War II, and 63 journalists were killed during the Vietnam War.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured tens of thousands of others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

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