Key points
- UN Secretary-General calls for independent and impartial probe into killings of journalists
- At least 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began: UN chief spokesperson
- More than a third of population is not eating for days in Gaza: UN World Food Population (WFP)
ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the killing of six Palestinian journalists in Gaza this past weekend, his Spokesperson said on Monday.
The reporters – five of whom worked for the Al Jazeera media network – were killed in a targeted Israeli strike in Gaza City the previous day.
“These latest killings highlight the extreme risks journalists continue to face when covering the ongoing war,” Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during his regular media briefing from New York.
“The Secretary-General calls for an independent and impartial investigation into these latest killings.”
Dujarric pointed out that at least 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began nearly three years ago.
“The Secretary-General underscores that journalists and media workers must be respected, they must be protected and they must be allowed to carry out their work freely, free from fear and free from harassment,” he said.
AFP cited the European Union foreign policy chief’s Kaja Kallas as saying that EU has condemned the killing of five journalists in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip.
A near-total collapse
“The EU condemns the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in an (Israeli military) airstrike outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, including the Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif,” she said after EU foreign ministers discussed Israel’s offensive in virtual talks.
Meanwhile, the number of children in Gaza who have died from malnutrition since October 2023 has surpassed 100, according to the Gazan health authorities.
READ ALSO: “Do Not Forget Gaza”: Anas Al-Sharif’s Final Message
More than a third of the population is not eating for days at a time, according to the UN World Food Population (WFP). Furthermore, acute malnutrition is spiking, with over 300,000 children at severe risk.
This comes amidst a recent warning by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that a mere 1.5 per cent of cropland in the enclave remains both accessible and undamaged, “signaling a near-total collapse of the local production of food.”
