International press body condemns killing of 13 journalists in Gaza

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Tuesday expressed its outrage and condemnation at the 13 media workers who have to date been killed in the Gaza region.
"We express our solidarity and support with our colleagues at the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) and with all media workers in Gaza and across Palestine," said IFJ President Jim Boumelha in a statement.
"We join international condemnation of Israeli attacks against Palestinian journalists and we express our deep anger and sadness at the deaths of the 13 media workers," he said.
"We repeat our call for all sides in this conflict to respect the rights and freedoms of all journalists and media workers and strictly abide by applicable norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Otherwise more journalists will surely lose their lives," he noted.
Yesterday saw the latest journalist killed in Gaza. Hamada Khaled Maqqat, 24, editing director of the SAJA online news website, was killed in his house on Nafaq Street early in the morning by an Israeli bombardment.
"As the number of media workers killed in Gaza increases every day and the violent attacks against journalists show no sign of abating, we repeat our appeal for media personnel reporting and working in the region to stay alert and vigilant at all times and to take every practical action required to make sure they are as safe as possible," said Boumelha.
The Brussels-based IFJ represents more than 600, 000 journalists in 134 countries.