00:00Well, we are horrified by these latest killings. This appears to be a deliberate targeted attack
00:08on a vehicle that was clearly labeled as a humanitarian vehicle run by the Egyptian
00:15Committee for Relief in Gaza. These three journalists, we understand, were taking images
00:20using a drone of the aid being distributed by the Egyptian Committee in Gaza and they were targeted,
00:26we understand, because of the suspicions around the drone. The use of drones is very common by
00:33journalists and unfortunately we're seeing more and more of this kind of targeted attack and this
00:37is a pattern that we've seen in particular from Israel which has been the leading killer of
00:43journalists over the last two and a half years. Well, the Israeli military says that troops had
00:49identified several suspects who were operating a drone and were affiliated with Hamas and that
00:54the incident is under investigation. If we can get on to your annual report now, Jodie, into
01:00imprisoned journalists, can you talk us through the numbers and locations of where journalists are
01:06being held? Well, sadly, the picture is pretty grim. For the third year in a row, we've seen more than
01:11300 journalists in prison around the world at the end of the year. The leading jailers of journalists are
01:17China, Myanmar and Israel, followed by Belarus and Russia. And we're seeing a pattern of increasing
01:26criminalisation of journalists, treating the act of journalism itself as criminal and arresting
01:32journalists and prosecuting them and persecuting them as a result. What efforts are being made to free
01:40journalists, Jodie, and how many were released last year? Well, we continue to campaign for journalists
01:46worldwide. One of the things that we can do is make sure that countries like Australia, which are
01:53champions of press freedom or purport to uphold international humanitarian law, do everything they
01:59can to campaign on behalf not only of their own journalists, but those who are in jail around the
02:04world. A third of the journalists in jail currently are in Asia, and it's really vital that we impress upon
02:12countries around the world the importance of journalists being free so that they can continue
02:16to do their work. It is a time when we desperately need accurate information. We've heard so many stories
02:23just today about the actions of the US and their threats towards Greenland and Europe and others.
02:29We need journalists who are able to investigate and report that information.
02:36Just briefly back to Gaza, if we could, Jodie, what's your view in the access international
02:40journalists are being given to the territory? Well, the lack of access to Gaza since October
02:47the 7th has been unprecedented. We speak to journalists who've covered wars over the past
02:52three decades, and they've never experienced the level of restriction that we are currently seeing
02:57from Israel into Gaza. We continue to call on the international community and on Israel to press for
03:04access. It's important that we have independent international journalists who are able to go in to
03:09support their guards and colleagues who have been our ears for the past two years. We have to leave it
03:14there. Jodie Ginsberg, thank you so much. Thank you.
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