The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday joined eight other prominent press freedom organizations in sending a letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to call for press freedom and journalists’ rights to be respected during the Israel-Gaza war.
According to CPJ data, more journalists were killed in the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year. The letter reflects CPJ’s wider calls for action by the international community published in December 2023, as well as in letters sent to U.S. President Joe Biden and Josep Borrell, the High Representative for the European Union on Foreign and Security Policy.
The unprecedented killing of so many journalists in so brief a period of time “has obvious and profound implications for the ability of the public, including the citizens of the Britain, to be informed about a conflict with local, regional, and global implications,” said Thursday’s letter. “We urge you to act immediately and decisively to ensure that all the parties respect the rights of journalists to report on the conflict.”
Read the full text of the letter below: