Urgent Action: PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS FORCIBLY DISAPPEARED (IOPT 119.23)

Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed are journalists from the occupied Gaza Strip. Both were detained by Israeli forces on October 7 while they were reporting the Hamas-led attack and are held in conditions constituting enforced disappearance. Since then, Israeli authorities have refused to disclose their whereabouts or the legal grounds and reasons for their arrest. Two and a half months since their disappearance, and no information has been shared about their fate or whereabouts. Israeli authorities must immediately disclose their whereabouts and the legal grounds for their arrest, grant them access to legal representation and ensure their humane treatment. Unless charged with an internationally recognized criminal offence, they must be immediately released.

Urgent Action Deadline Extended from February 14, 2024 to June 21, 2024

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: June 21, 2024 

take action:

• Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
• Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 119.23. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

contact information:

sample letter:

Dear Brig. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, 

I am deeply concern over the enforced disappearance of Haitham Abdelwahed, (25) and Nidal al-Waheidi (31), two journalists from the occupied Gaza Strip whose whereabouts have remained unknown since October 7, 2023. The detention of the two journalists was widely documented as they were reporting from Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing. Two-and-a-half months since the two went missing while on duty, their families, colleagues, and friends have received no information about them.

As recently as December 18, the Israeli army told Israeli daily, Haaretz that a “number of” detainees from the Gaza Strip died in custody at the military detention facilities in the Beersheba Airfield, also known as Sdeh Teyman, where hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza are held in conditions that violate the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment. 

We urge you to immediately disclose the whereabouts of Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed, detail the legal grounds for their detention, ensure their humane treatment, including access to medical services and protection from torture and other ill-treatment, and grant them access to the lawyers appointed by their families. Unless they are charged promptly with a criminal offence and granted a fair trial in accordance with international standards, they must be immediately released.  

Yours sincerely, 

[YOUR NAME]

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