Geneva, February 3 (RHC)-- The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a “high” risk of famine in the besieged Gaza Strip amid a brutal Israeli aggression, reiterating his call for a ceasefire.  “The risk of famine is high and increasing each day,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We continue to call for safe access for humanitarian personnel and supplies…We continue to call for a ceasefire,” he said.  Ghebreyesus also noted that “Over 100,000 Gazans are either dead, injured, or missing and presumed dead.”

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm in response to Tel Aviv's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 27,019 Palestinians and injured 66,139 others since the start of the invasion, the health ministry in Gaza said.  Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under “complete siege” by Israel.

UN experts have described Israel’s war on Gaza as the deadliest, most dangerous conflict for journalists in recent history.  “We are alarmed at the extraordinarily high numbers of journalists and media workers who have been killed, attacked, injured and detained in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in Gaza, in recent months blatantly disregarding international law,” they said on Thursday.

“We condemn all killings, threats and attacks on journalists and call on all parties to the conflict to protect them,” they said.

Referring to Israeli attacks on journalists who were “clearly identifiable in jackets and helmets marked “press” or travelling in well-marked press vehicles”, the UN experts said the reports “would seem to indicate that the killings, injury, and detention are a deliberate strategy by Israeli forces to obstruct the media and silence critical reporting.”

They stressed that the attacks on journalists are war crimes.

“Journalists are entitled to protection as civilians under international humanitarian law. Targeted attacks and killings of journalists are war crimes,” the experts warned.

Scores of Palestinians have been killed in overnight Israeli aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip, after mediator Qatar said Tel Aviv had approved a proposal to pause its war on the besieged territory.
They also slammed Israel for refusing to let media from outside Gaza to enter and report.

“The attacks on media in Gaza and restrictions on other journalists from accessing Gaza, combined with severe disruptions of the Internet, are major impediments to the right of information of the people of Gaza as well as the outside world.”

The experts also urged the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court to “give particular attention to the dangerous pattern of attacks and impunity for crimes against journalists, which has intensified since October 7.”   “Targeting and killing of journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territory must stop,” they stressed.

According to UN reports, over 122 journalists and media workers have been killed and many have been injured in Gaza since October 7. Israeli forces have also detained dozens of Palestinian journalists in both Gaza and in the West Bank “where harassment, intimidation and attacks on journalists have increased” since the start of the Israeli genocidal war.

A demonstrator holds a sign that reads "Genocide Joe" in a pro-Palestinian rally in Washington, D.C., on January 13, 2024. (Photo by Getty Images)