Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
Zimbabwean media organisations have strongly condemned the killing of journalists in Gaza, joining a growing global chorus demanding accountability and protection for media workers in conflict zones.
Zimbabwe union of Journalists (ZUJ) secretary-general Perfect Hlongwane described the continued targeting of journalists as barbaric and inhumane and insisted that media professionals are civilians who should never be treated as combatants.
“The continued and indiscriminate killing of journalists in Gaza is barbaric and inhumane,” he said.
“Journalists are not combatants, they play their role of informing the world by telling and documenting the truth in the midst of conflict. The deliberate targeting of journalists is a grave violation of international law and an assault on press freedom and humanity itself.
“I call upon international organisations, human rights bodies, and especially the broader community of nations, to urgently act and hold perpetrators accountable.”
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)’s regional director, Dr Tabani Moyo, said the killings in Gaza had reached deplorable levels that threaten society’s access to information.
“To us, the journalists in Gaza, it is a deplorable sin to see any form of journalist being killed the way they are being killed for telling their story to the world,” he said.
“The role of the media is to be a mirror of society, and when you attack the media the biggest loser is society itself. One too many, the levels in Gaza are deplorable and beyond humanly acceptable means of treating other human beings.
“Journalism is not a crime. It should not be condoned in any manner and should be deplored by all progressive thinking minds.”
National Association of Freelance Journalists (NAFJ) spokesperson Edward Makuzva said freelance reporters were among the most vulnerable and needed greater protection.
“The National Association of Freelance Journalists mourns the killing of journalists in Gaza and condemns any act that targets media workers,” he said.
“Journalists are civilians protected under international humanitarian law; those responsible for attacks must be investigated transparently and held to account so that the public’s right to know is not extinguished by violence.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families and colleagues of the fallen and stand in solidarity with all media workers reporting under threat.”
The condemnation comes after Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting following an Israeli strike that killed five journalists at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza.
RSF director-general Thibaut Bruttin described the incident as a violation of Resolution 2222, which obliges parties in armed conflict to protect journalists.
The UNRWA and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have also expressed outrage, while Spain labelled the strike a flagrant and unacceptable violation of international humanitarian law.
The UK foreign secretary said he was horrified by the attack and renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire.
With condemnations mounting across the world, Zimbabwe’s media fraternity insisted that crimes against journalists must be met with global accountability and warned that silencing the press endangered truth, justice and society itself.
