OIC to set up media watchdog to document Israeli crimes in Gaza

By Faruk Hanedar and Esra Taskin

ISTANBUL (AA) — A media monitoring unit will be established to document and expose Israeli crimes and violations in Gaza, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) secretary-general announced on Saturday.

The body will work to ensure accurate information on the "Palestinian crisis" is available to the international community, Hissein Brahim Taha said at the opening speech of a meeting of OIC information ministers in Istanbul.

Stressing the need for Israel's attacks on Gaza to be closely monitored by the news outlets, Taha said the content produced by the media monitoring unit will be accessible from the OIC website.

Israel is trying to hide the truth and the crimes it has committed in the region and to silence journalists, he asserted, adding that Tel Aviv is endeavoring to keep the reality of the situation hidden from the international community.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. The ensuing Israeli war has killed more than 29,600 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Nearly 70,000 people have been injured.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar