PFUJ condemns targeted killing of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 3 months ago |  JP Staff Report

ISLAMABAD–The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has issued a strong condemnation of the targeted Israeli strike that killed Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, calling the attack a grave violation of press freedom and international law. 

In a joint statement released Monday, PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary General Arshad Ansari denounced the bombing of a media tent near Al-Shifa Hospital, where journalists were reportedly working. “This is not an isolated incident,” they said. “Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted media personnel with alarming impunity.” 

The union highlighted that over 186 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the escalation of violence, underscoring a pattern of deliberate attacks on press institutions. “When media offices are bombed and reporters are assassinated under the guise of war, it’s not collateral damage, it’s censorship by violence,” the statement read. 

PFUJ urged the international community to hold Israel accountable and intervene to protect civilians and journalists covering the conflict. “Had the world acted sooner, many of these tragedies could have been prevented,” the leaders emphasized. 

The union reaffirmed Pakistan’s journalistic community’s full solidarity with their counterparts in Gaza, praising their courage in reporting from one of the most dangerous conflict zones in the world. 

Photo caption: Anas al Sharif of Al Jazeera was  among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who died in a strike on a tent near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City (AFP)