Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with senior Indian journalists on Thursday at his Jerusalem office, answering their questions and signing autographs. The meeting took place as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), alongside 15 other media and human rights organisations, issued a joint letter urging Israel to stop the forced starvation and targeted killing of journalists in Gaza.
Journalist Sidhant Sibal shared the autograph he received from Netanyahu. Accompanying the journalists was Indian Ambassador to Israel, J.P. Singh, who discussed expanding bilateral cooperation, particularly in security and economic sectors.
Netanyahu, increasingly isolated from Western allies over the ongoing conflict in Gaza, reportedly told Aditya Raj Kaul, Senior Executive Editor at TV9 Network, that “Israel wants more Indian workers because they are sensible and is trying to remove bureaucratic hurdles.”
Since October 2023, over 230 journalists and media workers in Gaza have been killed by Israeli strikes.
In a joint statement, CPJ and its partners emphasized the urgent responsibility of the global journalistic community: “If the international community fails to act, the death of these journalists will not only be a moral catastrophe, but the death of truth itself in Gaza. Our inaction will be recorded in history as a monumental failure to protect our fellow journalists and a betrayal of the principles that every journalist strives to uphold.”
Earlier, major international news agencies AFP, AP, BBC News, and Reuters expressed grave concern over the starvation faced by journalists trapped in Gaza. “For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering,” their joint statement said.
They further urged Israeli authorities to allow journalists to enter and exit Gaza freely and to ensure adequate food supplies reach the people there. (Agencies)
