More than 250 news outlets around the world have signed an appeal that calls for the protection of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, for foreign press to be granted independent access to the territory and for the evacuation of wounded journalists in Gaza needing medical treatment abroad. NPR is among the media outlets that signed.
The appeal, organized by Reporters Without Borders and Avaaz, notes that at least 220 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza in under two years of war. Media watchdogs and historians note this marks the deadliest period of war for journalists ever recorded, globally. Palestinians count 247 journalists killed.
Israel's Foreign Ministry called the appeal a "political manifesto against Israel" that it said shows how great global media bias is.
"The reports we see in the global media regarding Gaza do not tell the real story there. They tell the campaign of lies that Hamas spreads," the ministry said in a statement.