“News-rooms destroyed. Press gear bombed.” Palestinian Rights Committee Chair Remarks at 2025 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East

Remarks by H.E. Mr. Coly Seck 

Chair of the Committee

2025 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East 

“Breaking Barriers:
Navigating the Dangers and Complexities of Reporting from Gaza and the West Bank”  

1 December 2025, New York  

Excellencies,  

Distinguished Guests,  

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

 Thank you for the opportunity to address the 2025 International Media Seminar on such a critical issue.  

I wish to emphasise from the outset that the work of journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is not a luxury.  

It is indispensable for truth, accountability, and ultimately, for peace. 

Journalists’ safety is absolutely central to press freedom.  

Under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, everyone has the right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds”.  

Yet, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – in Gaza, and the West Bank including East Jerusalem – this right is under sustained, extreme pressure. 

In Gaza, since 7 October 2023, the reporting environment has deteriorated rapidly. 

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Ms. Irene Khan, over 250 journalists and media professionals have been killed in Gaza alone.  

Many more have been injured, detained or targeted.  

She correctly described that “Gaza has become the deadliest conflict ever for journalists”. 

Access to information is being blocked. 

Communications are cut. 

International journalists are prevented from entering. 

And Palestinian journalists face harassment, detention and threats.  

Meanwhile, professional environments collapse. 

News-rooms destroyed. 

Press gear bombed. 

Media workers have been targeted and even killed while broadcasting live. 

They are being targeted for being journalists – for bearing witness and informing the world about the realities in Gaza. 

The toll is not only tragic in human terms, but devastating in terms of accountability. 

When journalists cannot safely report, the world sees far less of what is happening on the ground. 

In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, journalists face continuing pressure. 

Detentions, harassment, movement restrictions, confiscation of equipment, threats of censorship.  

The right to free reporting in the occupied territory is under sustained strain. 

Why emphasise this now?  

Because the integrity of information matters more than ever.  

As we meet in New York, the international community is weighing how to respond to overlapping humanitarian, security and political crises across the Occupied Palestinian Territory – in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.  

But if the voices of those on the ground are silenced, distorted or blocked, our responses will always be partial.  

Accurate, timely, independent reporting makes all the difference, both for policy-makers and for public understanding. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

We recognise the courage of journalists who continue to go in despite the risks.  

In Gaza, they are capturing images, testimonies, data, often risking life and liberty.  

These are not by-products of the conflict – they are critical chronicles of the conflict. 

They are conveying lived reality under occupation, blockade and military assault.  

Their work amplifies voices otherwise silenced.  

Without them, the world is reduced to second-hand narratives, rumours and propaganda. 

In conclusion, I reaffirm the Committee’s unwavering dedication to press freedom and the essential role of journalists in achieving lasting peace in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  

Thank you.