Media outlets around the world are planning a coordinated blackout of front pages, homepages, and broadcasts on Monday, September 1, to protest the rising journalist death toll in Gaza and demand open press access. This campaign—organized by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Avaaz, and the International Federation of Journalists—responds to more than 210 journalists killed since October 7, 2023, in the region, while Israel has barred foreign reporters from entering Gaza.
Tensions flare as the latest tragedy deepens scrutiny: On August 25, Israeli strikes on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital killed at least 20 people—including five journalists from Reuters, AP, and Al Jazeera—when a follow-up strike hit rescuers arriving on scene. The Israel Defense Forces described the strike as a “tragic mishap,” launching an inquiry and saying it was targeting a Hamas-run surveillance camera near the complex.
Israeli officials also assert that many of the journalists killed in the war were actually Hamas operatives, citing intelligence that linked them to terror roles. For example, in the case of Anas al-Sharif, killed in an August 10 strike on his media tent, the IDF said he was “the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.” Al Jazeera and press freedom groups rejected these allegations, accusing Israel of smearing reporters to justify their killings.
Journalism advocates warn that continued violence against media workers—and restrictions on independent reporting—are starving the world of accurate information from Gaza. As RSF’s Thibaut Bruttin put it: “At the rate at which journalists are being killed in Gaza by the IDF, soon there will be no one left to keep the world informed.”
This article is written and republished with permission from The Media Line