A silent protest for the journalists killed while covering developments in Gaza will be held on Thursday in Nicosia.

“Their silence is forced – ours is a choice,” a poster calling people to the protest reads.

The protest will begin at 7pm on Spyros Kyprianou Avenue in Nicosia, at the Starbucks traffic lights.

“Join us as we stand in solidarity with journalists silenced and killed for telling the truth,” the poster says.

Another poster reads: “In Gaza, journalists have paid with their lives for telling the truth. Their cameras showed the world what others wanted hidden. Now, their voices are gone – but ours remain.”

Meanwhile, the journalists’ union (ESK) has deplored “the cold-blooded murder by Israeli forces of two journalists and three cameramen of Al Jazeera TV station during an air raid on the tent used as a shelter for the crew in the Gaza Strip.

“The victims of August 10, who were added to the long list of colleagues who insisted on serving the truth of the news, while Israel expands its military operations in Gaza and famine escalates, are Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa,” the union said.

It added that on Monday independent photoreporter Mohammed Al-Khaldi died of injuries.

“We join our voice with the International Federation of Journalists and condemn the murderous attack, pointing out that it is a deliberate targeting of journalists,” the union said.

The union in Cyprus said Israel forbids the entry of foreign journalists to Gaza and thus the only journalists there, who are risking their lives to report on the situation, are Palestinians.

Two hundred journalists have been killed since the war started, 112 media offices have been destroyed and dozens of reporters are in prison.

“All this indicates that the largest mass disappearance of journalists in history is happening in Gaza. It is a war crime and one of the biggest blows ever suffered by free information and democracy itself,” it added.

The union expressed its unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian journalists and said the attack made it imperative for UN members to adopt a binding international convention on the safety of workers in the media.