Fear grips Gaza journalists as another six members killed within 48 hours
Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad @byplestia posted on her instagram account today that she did not feel safe wearing her press jacket and helmet.
“I always wear my press vest and helmet...but lately I have stopped wearing them. I don’t feel safe in Gaza no matter what.
“Even when I am sleeping I don’t feel safe, but especially when I am wearing the press vest and helmet I don’t feel safe,” she wrote in her post.
She expressed her hope that this nightmare (the Gaza genocide) would end soon and that the media fraternity in Gaza did not lose anymore journalists.
Another journalist Hind Khoudary also wrote a heart-wrenching letter to the world on her Instagram.
“Dear World.
“This is Hind Khoudary, a 28-year-old Palestinian journalist from the heart-wrenching Gaza Strip. I am a daughter, a sister to eight brothers and a wife.
“Choosing to stay here is a choice to witness and report on the unbearable reality my city endures. Forced from my home, alongside countless Palestinians, we strive for the basics – clean food and water – without transportation or electricity,” she wrote on her post.
She went on to say that she was not a superhero and felt shattered on the inside.
“The loss of relatives, friends and colleagues weighs heavy on my soul. Israeli forces ravaged my city, reducing homes to rubble. Over 3,000 civilians still lie beneath the remnants.
“My heart is aching, and my spirit is fragile. Since Oct. 7, journalists have been targets; Israel seeks to stifle our voices.”
Hind wrote that she missed her family but surrendering is not an option.
She pledged to continue reporting until her last breath.
“Please, do not let the world forget Palestine. We are weary, and your voice is our strength.
“Remember our voices, remember our faces,” she wrote.
She signed the post with her name and the month and year.
In the past 48 hours, six media professionals have been killed by Israeli bombing, including journalists Sari Mansour and Hassouneh Salim.
They were hit by an Israeli air strike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. At least 55 Palestinian media workers have been killed since Oct 7.
Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the genocide during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages and extensive power outages.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told Reuters and Agence France Press news agencies that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, after they had sought assurances that their journalists would not be targeted by Israeli strikes, Reuters reported on Oct 27.
