Dear Prime Minister,
We write to you as journalists to urgently call for action in protecting media freedom and to safeguard Palestinian journalists and media workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Journalists all over the world are being silenced, jailed, and forcibly disappeared simply for doing their jobs. But the situation in Gaza is especially alarming. Israeli forces have made the occupied Gaza Strip the most dangerous place on earth for media workers.
In 2024 alone, at least 124 journalists were killed globally - nearly 70% of them in Gaza. The killings have continued in 2025, claiming the lives of journalists such as Fatima Hassouna, Hossam Shabat, and Ahmed Mansour.
Israeli forces continue to act with impunity as they kill or intimidate Palestinian journalists, often targeting them alongside their families. It has been three years since Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces while reporting in Jenin. Her family, friends and colleagues are still waiting for justice and accountability.
The human rights situation in Gaza and across the Occupied Palestinian Territory is untenable. UN experts and human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, have clearly stated that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.
Journalists play a vital role in documenting and exposing these grave violations, but doing so is impossible while the illegal occupation and Israeli attacks on media workers continue.
We urge you to take the following actions to protect Palestinian journalists and uphold the UK’s international obligations:
- Take urgent and meaningful steps to prevent Israel’s genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza, including Palestinian journalists, in accordance with the UK’s obligations as State Party to the Genocide Convention.
- Use all viable diplomatic and economic levers to press Israel to agree to a sustained ceasefire and to fully implement all provisional measures ordered by the ICJ since 26 January 2024.
- Immediately suspend arms transfers to Israel to avoid UK complicity in the ongoing killing of Palestinian journalists.
- To demand unfettered access to international journalists into the Occupied Palestinian Territory
- Support Palestinian journalists through substantial investment in programmes that provide access to training, equipment, and other essential resources needed to carry out their work effectively and safely.
The UK government prides itself on its record of defending media freedom around the world. It must now turn that commitment into action by ensuring journalists can report freely and safely.