Six Months of Horror: Gaza’s Journalists Report Under Fire, Grief, and Genocide

April 6, 2024 – Palestine/Israel –

Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post episode “Reporting Under Genocide” offers a powerful chronicle of what it means to be a journalist in Gaza after six months of unrelenting war. With foreign correspondents largely barred from entry, the burden of documenting the conflict—and the atrocities—has fallen almost entirely on local Palestinian reporters. These journalists are not only covering a war; they are surviving it.

The report weaves together first-person accounts of journalists who have endured bombings, drone attacks, the deaths of colleagues, and the destruction of media infrastructure. Many have continued to report even after losing their homes, families, and colleagues. “We are documenting genocide,” says one journalist. “And the world is watching in silence.”

Since October 2023, dozens of Palestinian journalists have been killed, many while wearing press vests or while working in known media locations. Survivors recount near-misses, shelling of newsrooms, and deliberate strikes that seemed to target them despite obvious identification. The episode highlights how traditional protections for journalists in war zones—like press markings and international law—have proven meaningless in Gaza.

Journalists speak of the physical and emotional toll of their work: operating under constant bombardment, burying fellow reporters, and trying to protect their children while still documenting the conflict. One photojournalist describes taking pictures with one hand while holding his son with the other. Another recounts filming in the remains of his own destroyed neighborhood.

With media towers flattened and internet access often blocked, Gaza’s journalists have become the last remaining bridge between Gaza and the outside world. The episode emphasizes that their work has become indispensable—and yet unbearably dangerous. The repeated killings and targeting of journalists, the program argues, raise serious questions about whether these acts constitute war crimes or even genocide.

Ultimately, The Listening Post delivers a harrowing but essential message: without Gaza’s journalists, the world would see nothing. And in continuing to tell the truth, they risk not only their lives, but being erased from history altogether.

Reference –

Reporting under genocide: Six months in Gaza | TV Shows | Al Jazeera