LONDON: Media watchdogs have called on Israeli authorities to evacuate two injured Al Jazeera journalists from Gaza who are in urgent need of lifesaving medical treatment.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, Free Press Unlimited and Reporters Without Borders issued a joint appeal on Tuesday urging the Israeli military office responsible for humanitarian coordination — known as COGAT — to authorize the evacuation.
“The Israeli military’s duty under international humanitarian law is to protect civilians, including journalists, and to ensure the wounded receive timely medical assistance,” said the organizations.
“We respectfully ask for your immediate intervention to facilitate the necessary permissions for this evacuation.”
Gaza-based cameramen Ali Al-Attar and Fadi Al-Wahidi were injured in two separate incidents while covering the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On Oct. 8, Al-Attar was wounded during a strike on Deir Al-Balah, while Al-Wahidi was shot by a sniper in Jabalia a day later.
Both journalists are currently in a critical condition in hospital and in need of medical assistance beyond the capacity of Gaza’s war-ravaged health system.
The organizations emphasized that the public plea follows unsuccessful diplomatic efforts and direct appeals to COGAT, which has yet to respond to the evacuation requests.
They urged Israeli authorities to expedite approval for the journalists’ transfer to Jordan or Qatar for treatment and said the US, French and German governments, as well as the UN, had been asked to help secure safe passage.
The group said they “hold the Israeli government responsible for any deterioration of their conditions caused by this prolonged delay.”
Israel has faced accusations of targeting journalists and other protected groups such as medical personnel, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
According to CPJ, at least 128 media workers — the majority of them Palestinian — have been killed since the conflict began, the highest tally in over 30 years of record-keeping.
The letter from the CPJ, FPU and RSF called on Israeli authorities to respect international humanitarian law, arguing that obstructing medical assistance for injured journalists constituted a breach.
