Malaga press association condemns the massacre of journalists in Gaza
The Asociación de la Prensa de Málaga has held a moving ceremony in honour of the 247 dead professionals who have become "a priority target of the Israeli forces"
The Asociación de la Prensa de Málaga paid tribute to the 247 journalists killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, in a ceremony held in the city on Monday, 1 September. Members of the Malaga association of press photographers, Andalusian television association and Andalusian association of journalists also joined the event. These organisations are supporting the global initiative promoted by Reporters Without Borders and the citizens' movement Avaaz, which called for rallies and events on 1 September all over the world to demand "an end to the massacre of journalists and free access for the international press to the Gaza Strip".
SUR, like all other media outlets belonging to the Vocento group, joined in the condemnation of the massacre of journalists in Gaza and against the veto of the press. For this reason, the newspaper published an editorial, a cartoon and a report on Sunday, in support of this worldwide movement for press freedom led by Reporters Without Borders and supported by media from all countries.
The event in Malaga began with a minute's silence in memory of the 247 killed journalists, as well as the approximately 500 injured. President of the press association Elena Blanco, secretary general Ángel Escalera, deputy president of the association and president of the college of journalists in Malaga Teresa Santos, as well as other professionals, read out the testimonies of journalists working in Gaza, some of them already killed.
The first tribute was to the four journalists gunned down in October 2023, just as the latest phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began. The following tribute was for the 13 who have been killed this August: six - Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal and freelance journalist Mohammad al-Khaldi - were killed in the attack on a tent outside the main entrance of Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital on 10 August 2025; five - Reuters veteran and Palestinian television photojournalist Hussam al Masri, Al Jazeera photographer Mohammad Salama, freelance reporter Mariam Abu Dagga, photojournalist Moaz Abu Taha and freelance journalist Ahmed Abu Aziz - were killed in a double Israeli bombing of the Nasser hospital in southern Gaza. There was an initial attack and when the journalists went to cover it, the second was carried out. On the same day, another Israeli bombing in Khan Younis killed reporter Hassan Douhan. Added to the list this past month is freelancer Islam Al-Komi, who, on the eve of his death, had made an urgent appeal for help on his Facebook account, denouncing the plight of life in Gaza.
"Why are we here, why this act? Since the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip began in October 2023, some 247 journalists have been killed for exercising the democratic profession of informing and showing the world the images and testimonies of a conflict that shocks us all," Elena Blanco said , describing as "systematic repression" and a "massacre" what Palestinian journalists, cameramen and photographers suffer as "a priority target of the Israeli forces".
'The ban on the entry of foreign journalists into the Gaza Strip, coupled with the repression of local journalists, prevents us from gaining a full understanding of the crimes committed with impunity against journalists and the population in general'
That is why, Blanco continued, the Malaga journalists' associations joined the call of Reporters Without Borders: "To demonstrate our strongest condemnation of the systematic and unpunished murder of journalists, cameramen and photographers, in what is the deadliest period in recent history" for this profession. She also stressed that international humanitarian law states that deliberate attacks against journalists constitute a violation of international humanitarian law and called for foreign journalists to be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. "This ban, coupled with the repression of local journalists, prevents us from gaining a full understanding of the crimes committed with impunity against journalists and the population in general."
"The best tribute we can pay to our murdered colleagues and to those who put their lives at risk every day to inform the world about the genocide in Gaza is to give them a voice and to know under what conditions they carry out their work, what their daily lives are like," Blanco said. The Agence France-Press (AFP agency) has warned that without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die. Reporters have become victims of not only gunfire and bombings, but also of hunger. "We have lost reporters in war, but never because of hunger."
"Without them, without their voice, we would not know what is happening; the foreign press cannot enter. We depend on their work, their dedication, their daily struggle, to be able to know what is happening in Gaza - the genocide that is happening in Gaza," Blanco concluded.
