More than 30 international media outlets, including the world’s leading news agencies, on Thursday expressed solidarity with Palestinian journalists working under extremely difficult conditions in Gaza and called on the Israeli authorities to “protect” them as civilians, AFP reported.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the New York-based organization that coordinated the open letter, at least 94 journalists have been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, most of them, 89, “Palestinians killed by the Israeli military,” making it the deadliest conflict , “ever documented” organization.

“For nearly five months, journalists and media professionals in Gaza, who are virtually the only source of information in the Palestinian territory, have worked under unprecedented conditions” and “continue to work despite personal risk,” the letter said. signed by BBC News, New York Times, Der Spiegel and Haaretz.

They continue to do their work “despite the loss of their families, friends and colleagues, the destruction of homes and offices, constant displacement, disruptions in communications and shortages of food and fuel,” added the text signed by the three main aid agencies. world press, Associated Press (AP), Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Reuters, as well as the World Association of Newspapers (WAN-IFRA).

“Journalists are civilians and the Israeli authorities must protect them as non-combatants in accordance with international law,” the signatories continued, adding that those “responsible for any violations” must be “held accountable.”

Before the war, the AFP had a ten-person office in Gaza City, whose staff were evacuated to the southern Gaza Strip in early October when Israel ordered residents to leave. Some of them still live there in very bad conditions.