"I want to draw your attention to the fact that many Palestinians held by Israel are detained under administrative detention, a practice in which individuals—many of them minors—are imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial. These detainees are not prisoners in the conventional sense but rather individuals denied their right to a fair trial and due process. Your reporting omits this crucial information and fails to acknowledge that the ceasefire deal also included the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees."
March 20, 2025
To:
Nancy Waugh, Managing Editor, CBC News
Brodie Fenlon, Editor-in-Chief, CBC News
Dear CBC team,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East regarding the AP sourced article titled: “Israel cuts off access to main Gaza highway after launching deadly airstrikes” published today.
Your coverage of Israel’s blockade and airstrikes on the occupied Gaza Strip lacks crucial legal and contextual information. I would like to highlight two key concerns.
1. Misleading Framing of Israel’s Blockade. The article states:
The Israeli military meanwhile restored a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, that it had maintained for most of the war.
While your coverage mentions Israel’s blockade on the occupied Gaza Strip, it fails to mention that this practice constitutes a crime against humanity, defying one of the six provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January 2024, which explicitly requires Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza (Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip [South Africa v. Israel], Order of 26 January 2024).
By continuing to prohibit aid from entering, Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, a practice condemned under international humanitarian law, specifically, article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which mandates that an occupying power is legally obligated to ensure that the civilian population has access to food and medical supplies.
Furthermore, blocking aid from entering, Israel is committing another war crime—collective punishment—in violation of article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which explicitly criminalizes the intentional use of starvation as a method of warfare.
Although Israel has not ratified the Rome Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) because Palestine acceded to the Rome Statute in 2015, making it a state party to the ICC. As a result, Israeli officials can still be prosecuted for war crimes under 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute.
At minimum, the article should have explicitly mentioned that Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war amounts to collective punishment, which is a war crime under international law.
2. Omission of Palestinian prisoners and detainees: The article also states:
Israel resumed heavy strikes across Gaza on Tuesday, shattering the truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages.
This framing suggests that the ceasefire’s collapse impacted only Israeli hostages, omitting the fact that the deal also included the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. This omission presents a one-sided reporting of the agreement and misrepresents the stakes involved in the negotiations.
I want to draw your attention to the fact that many Palestinians held by Israel are detained under administrative detention, a practice in which individuals—many of them minors—are imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial. These detainees are not prisoners in the conventional sense but rather individuals denied their right to a fair trial and due process. Your reporting omits this crucial information and fails to acknowledge that the ceasefire deal also included the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Given my previous correspondence with CBC News, I trust that you will take these concerns seriously and improve both your current and future reporting, ensuring a more balanced and legally grounded approach to covering the genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your response.
Best regards,
Lynn Naji
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East