Beirut sit-in honors journalists killed by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon

BEIRUT — Several dozen people, along with as many journalists covering the event, gathered Monday at 6 p.m. in Beirut in front of the statue at Martyrs’ Square for a sit-in in solidarity with Palestinian journalists from the Gaza Strip and against Israel’s repression of media institutions.

While Joseph Kossaifi, president of the press editors’ syndicate, specified that the sit-in was organized by Lebanese and Palestinian journalists, both Hamas and Hezbollah had also called for participation in this gathering in recent days.

According to our reporter on the ground, around fifty protestors were present, mainly journalists themselves. Joseph Kossaifi and Aouni al-Kaaki, president of the press order, were there. Participants held up photos of Farah Omar and Rabih Maamari, as well as other journalists killed by the Israeli army in Lebanon.

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The sit-in lasted about half an hour peacefully, with police and military present. The gathering also paid tribute to the Yemeni Information Minister who was killed, as well as to journalists who have died in the conflict. "We will continue to write, even if this aggression continues," said one of the organizers.

Kaaki spoke, paying tribute to Hassan Nasrallah, the former Hezbollah secretary general assassinated by a massive Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut last September, and to Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist killed on the ground in May 2022 in the Israeli-occupied West Bank by an Israeli soldier, before the Gaza war began. Kossaifi compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nero (Roman emperor who became infamous in history and popular culture for his cruelty and excesses.)

"Journalists are being killed in Gaza because they show the world what they see with their own eyes," said Walid Kilani, Hamas media official in Lebanon. He listed the names of journalists killed, including Mohammad Afif Naboulsi, former Hezbollah spokesperson killed last November by an Israeli strike at the height of the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, more than 215 journalists have been killed in Gaza, according to Reporters Without Borders. The sit-in comes one week after five journalists were killed in a double strike near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. In Lebanon, at least 12 journalists have also been killed by Israeli strikes since Oct. 8, 2023.

Reporting by our journalist on the ground, Matthieu Karam.