Gaza, May 4 : Dozens of journalists held a protest in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, urging the international community to protect media workers from repeated Israeli targeting.

The protest was organised by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate to mark World Press Freedom Day on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The journalists gathered at the Nasser Medical Complex in the city and held up signs reading "Stop Killing Journalists".

In a speech during the protest, Tahseen Al-Astal, the syndicate's deputy head, accused Israel of committing "a crime against Palestinian journalists by directly killing them and destroying their homes".

Al-Astal considered the media situation in Gaza to be among "the most dangerous in the world, given the complete absence of any safety guarantees, the destruction of press institutions, and the deprivation of the most basic work tools".

The syndicate reported that 210 Palestinian journalists have been killed in the last 17 months of the Israeli war on Gaza, with hundreds wounded or losing family members, along with the destruction of media facilities and thousands of violations against media workers in the West Bank.

Saying the Israeli occupation is fully responsible for these crimes, he called on international institutions to take serious action to "hold the killers accountable".

Since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, Israel has killed 212 journalists, injured 409, and arrested 48 others, the Hamas-run media office reported on Saturday.

The journalist body demanded the immediate release of all imprisoned journalists and international action to hold Israeli leaders accountable for crimes against media personnel.

"The world celebrates press freedom while Palestine endures unprecedented attacks on journalism," it said.

World Press Freedom Day was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in December 1993 to defend media independence worldwide.

This year's commemoration comes amid what media freedom organisations describe as the deadliest period for journalists in modern history, with Palestinian reporters bearing the brunt of the casualties.

The Israeli army renewed its assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering a January 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

/IANS