By IFEX
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
IFEX joins calls on the EU to act decisively to protect press freedom and ensure accountability amid record journalist deaths in Gaza and severe media crackdowns in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 26 August 2024.
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 59 partners on Thursday, August 22, wrote to EU High Representative Josep Borrell, European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, and EU member state foreign ministries asking that the EU “take action against the Israeli authorities’ unprecedented killing of journalists and other violations of media freedom.”
The letter condemns widespread and systematic abuses committed by Israeli authorities and calls for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement as well as further EU targeted sanctions against those responsible.
The Association Agreement intends to provide an “appropriate legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation between the EU and Israel” and includes human rights as a core component.
An informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers is expected to take place on August 29.
Read the full letter here.
