Israel arrests over 20 journalists on Gaza flotilla: media watchdog

Paris: Reporters Without Borders has condemned Israel’s arrest of “more than 20 foreign journalists” after Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, calling for their immediate release.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, the Paris-based media watchdog said there were more than 20 foreign reporters on board the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail last month for Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking place.

The journalists were arrested between Wednesday and Thursday when the Israeli navy began intercepting the boats ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, RSF said.

Vessels with more than 400 people on board had been prevented from reaching the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Thursday.

“Arresting journalists and preventing them from doing their work is a serious violation of the right to inform and be informed,” said Martin Roux, head of RSF’s crisis desk.

“RSF condemns the illegal arrest of the news professionals who were on board these ships to cover a humanitarian operation of unprecedented scale,” said Roux.

Among the some 20 journalists on board were reporters from Spain’s El Pais, Qatar’s Al Jazeera and Italy’s public broadcaster RAI.

The media organisations have had “no news of their journalists” since arrests began on Wednesday evening, said RSF.

Israel said it would deport those arrested to Europe, adding that none of the vessels had breached its maritime blockade of Gaza.

Since the start of the war, the international press has not been allowed to operate freely in the Palestinian territory.

Only a handful of selected media outlets have been permitted entry, embedded with the Israeli army, and their reporting is subject to strict military censorship.

According to RSF, more than 210 journalists have been killed since the beginning of Israeli military operations in Gaza, launched in after October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign since then has killed 66,225 Palestinians in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which the United Nations considers reliable.