BH Journalists on Gaza: Starvation as a weapon, silence as complicity

(Patria) - The BH Journalists Association expresses deep solidarity with the civilians in the Gaza Strip, who are exposed to one of the most severe humanitarian catastrophes of our time. People in Gaza have not had access to food, water, medicine, or safe shelter for days. Humanitarian convoys are blocked, and this is not a natural disaster – this is conscious and deliberate starvation, which represents a form of collective punishment.

A war crime unfolding before the eyes of the entire world is using hunger as a weapon. Local journalists, the only witnesses to these horrors, risk their lives daily to convey the truth to the world. However, they too are now threatened by hunger, and foreign colleagues are banned from entering.

The BH Journalists Association appeals to the highest officials and institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Borjana Krišto, Chairperson of the Council of Ministers, Elmedin Konaković, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edin Forto, Minister of Communications and Transport, Sevlid Hurtić, Minister of Human Rights and Refugees, the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to break their silence and take a clear, unambiguous stance against the war crimes in Gaza.

We demand immediate diplomatic action from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which includes:

- Public support for the suspension of the EU-Israel agreement

- A demand for the urgent evacuation of civilians in immediate danger

- Enabling access for foreign journalists to Gaza and protection for local colleagues

- Launching an international investigation into systematic starvation as a war crime

Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a country that has itself experienced the horrors of war and civilian suffering, has no right to silence and restraint at a time when basic human rights are being violated and when truth is being forcibly suppressed.

When truth is silenced by starvation – it is our moral duty to speak louder," state the members of the Steering Committee of BH Journalists.