The 102nd session of the Permanent Committee on Arab Information, at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, on Dec. 10, 2024. (Credit: NNA)
The Director General of the Ministry of Information, Hassan Falha, denounced on Monday from the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, "the murders of media professionals perpetrated by Israeli forces in Lebanon and Gaza since the beginning of hostilities" which pit Israel against Hamas and Hezbollah. While adding that "these crimes have exceeded the losses suffered by this profession during the Second World War," during his speech at the 102nd session of the Permanent Committee on Arab Information.
Accusing Israel of carrying out a “deliberate aggression aimed at intimidating the media in order to cover up the crimes and destruction committed,” Falha called on the committee to support “media professionals, journalists and photographers.”
The statement comes as Lebanon enters the third week of a fragile ceasefire, after more than a year of cross-border hostilities and two months of open warfare between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.
During this meeting, several topics were discussed, including the progress of the international media action plan, the management of the Arab Electronic Media Commission website, the role of Arab media in the fight against terrorism, as well as the implementation of the Arab media map for sustainable development by 2030.
2024, 'a particularly deadly year'
The year 2024 has proven to be “particularly deadly” for journalists, with 104 professionals killed worldwide, more than half of them in Gaza, according to a report published Tuesday by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Since October 8, 2023, at least 12 journalists have been killed in Lebanon.
After the 129 deaths recorded in 2023, "2024 is one of the worst years," warned Anthony Bellanger, the general secretary of the IFJ, quoted by AFP.
