Media groups call on EU to suspend treaty, impose sanctions on Israel

BRUSSELS

Journalists film before Israeli army armoured vehicles deployed at the entrance of the Tulkarm camp for Palestinian refugees, during an ongoing Israeli raid in Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank on Aug. 22, 2024.

Some 60 media and rights organizations on Monday urged the European Union to suspend a cooperation accord with Israel and impose sanctions, accusing it of "massacring journalists" in Gaza.

"In response to the unprecedented number of journalists killed and other repeated press freedom violations by the Israeli authorities since the start of the war with Hamas, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 59 other organizations are calling on the European Union to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel and to adopt targeted sanctions against those responsible," the groups said in a joint statement.

The call came ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Aug. 29.

The period following Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's devastating retaliatory assault on the Gaza Strip "has been the deadliest for journalists in decades," the letter said.

"More than 130 Palestinian journalists and media professionals have been killed by the Israeli armed forces in Gaza since Oct. 7. At least 30 of them were killed in the course of their work; three Lebanese journalists and an Israeli journalist have also been killed during the same period," it says.

"The targeted or indiscriminate killing of journalists, whether committed deliberately or recklessly, is a war crime," it said.

The EU's association agreements with non-member countries are treaties that govern bilateral relations, including trade.

The agreement's Article 2 stipulates "respect for human rights and democratic principles," said Julie Majerczak, the head of RSF's Brussels office.

"The Israeli government is clearly trampling on this article. The EU, which is Israel's leading trade partner, must draw the necessary conclusions from this and must do everything to ensure that the (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu government stops massacring journalists and respects the right to information and press freedom by opening media access to Gaza," she said.

Among the signatories were the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Human Rights Watch (HRW).