By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistani journalist bodies on Thursday condemned the killing of their Palestinian colleagues in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the main body of Pakistani journalists, "strongly" condemned the journalists' killings, terming it a calculated attempt by the "Zionist" regime to "hide the truth."
Five journalists from the Al-Quds Today channel were killed early Thursday when an Israeli airstrike struck their broadcasting van near al-Awda Hospital in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp.
In a statement, PFUJ President Afzal Butt said it is not the first time that Israeli forces have targeted media persons but they have done so in the past as well.
"The Zionist state has a strange sense of impunity that emboldens its troops to target innocent civilians, including media persons who are merely performing their professional responsibilities covering a conflict zone," he added.
PFUJ Secretary-General Arshad Ansari noted that more than 140 journalists and media workers have been killed so far in the Israeli bombardment, but the international community and the so-called exponents of freedom of the press are "criminally" silent on this brutality.
A.H Khanzada, the secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (Dastoor group), demanded that the international community take notice of the situation besides appealing to them to put pressure on Tel Aviv to prevent it from targeting innocent civilians and media persons.
"Had the international community taken the notice of media persons' killings and bombing of media offices in the past, this might have been prevented," he added
Karachi Press Club President Saeed Sarbazi and Secretary Shoaib Ahmad, in a statement, said the journalist fraternity of Pakistan shows complete solidarity with the Palestinian journalists and all others embedded media persons who are performing their duties risking their lives to inform people what is happening on ground. They strongly condemned the killings of journalists in Gaza during the ruthless bombardment by Israeli forces.
Israel has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed nearly 45,400 people, most of them women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.