All Palestinian journalists covering Israel’s war on Gaza have been awarded the 2024 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, the United Nations cultural agency has said.
The award ceremony took place on 2 May in the margins of the World Press Freedom Conference in Santiago, Chile.
“In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition with those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances. As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression,” said Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals during the announcement on Thursday.
More than 100 journalists and media workers, the vast majority Palestinian, have been killed in the first seven months of the current conflict in Gaza that started in October, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), reports Al Jazeera.
However, the UNESCO statement said, “Since 7 October 2023, UNESCO has condemned and deplored the deaths of 26 journalists and media workers in the line of work, based on information from its international NGO partners. The organization is reviewing dozens of other cases.”
