UN company’s chief calls award a tribute to braveness of journalists going through ‘tough and harmful’ situations in Gaza.
All Palestinian journalists protecting Israel’s battle on Gaza have been awarded UNESCO’s world press freedom prize, the United Nations cultural company has mentioned.
“In these occasions of darkness and hopelessness, we want to share a powerful message of solidarity and recognition to these Palestinian journalists who’re protecting this disaster in such dramatic circumstances,” Mauricio Weibel, chair of the worldwide jury of media professionals, mentioned throughout the announcement on Thursday.
“As humanity, now we have an enormous debt to their braveness and dedication to freedom of expression,” Weibel added throughout a ceremony in Chile’s capital, Santiago, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day on Friday.
Greater than 100 journalists and media staff, the overwhelming majority Palestinian, have been killed within the first seven months of the present battle in Gaza that began in October, in line with the Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ) and the Worldwide Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Gaza’s Authorities Media Workplace put that toll at greater than 140.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Weibel mentioned the world has “an enormous debt to the Palestinian journalists”.
“We face many dangers all over the world, and we have to say, ‘Cease’,” he added.
Audrey Azoulay, director normal of the UN Academic, Scientific and Cultural Group, mentioned the prize pays “tribute to the braveness of journalists going through tough and harmful circumstances”.
‘Emotional ceremony’
Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, reporting from Santiago, described the occasion as an “extraordinarily emotional ceremony”.
“There have been many individuals within the room who have been crying. There have been a variety of feelings and really sturdy applause.”
Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza have been amongst those that have been focused by Israeli strikes since October.
In December, Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh was wounded in an Israeli strike by which his colleague and Al Jazeera Arabic’s cameraman Samer Abudaqa was killed, whereas they have been reporting in southern Gaza.
Dahdouh’s spouse Amna, son Mahmoud, daughter Sham and grandson Adam have been killed in an assault in October after an Israeli air raid hit the house they have been sheltering in on the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The veteran journalist’s eldest son, Hamza Dahdouh, additionally an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed in January by an Israeli missile assault in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. He was in a car close to al-Mawasi, an Israel designated protected space, with journalist Mustafa Thuraya, who was additionally killed within the assault.
In keeping with experiences from Al Jazeera correspondents, their car was focused as they have been attempting to interview civilians displaced by earlier bombings.
In February, Mohamed Yaghi, a contract photojournalist who labored with a number of media retailers, together with Al Jazeera, was additionally killed in an Israeli air strike in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.
At the least 34,596 Palestinians have been killed and 77,816 wounded in Israeli assaults on Gaza since October 7. The loss of life toll in Israel from the Hamas-led assaults stands at 1,139 with dozens of individuals nonetheless held captive.
