GAZA CITY (Dispatches) – The Forum of Palestinian Journalists has announced the death of Alaa Hashim, who died of injuries she previously sustained in an Israeli bombardment of Gaza City in the course of its genocidal war.
Hashim’s death brought the number of Palestinian journalists killed in the Zionist regime’s aggression on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, to 206.
The NGO mourned Hashim and condemned the international silence and failure to protect Palestinian journalists.
It also urged “enabling journalists to perform their professional duties in accordance with international laws and humanitarian conventions.”
A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took hold in Gaza in January, halting the Zionist regime’s brutal onslaught, which has killed more than 48,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
Despite the ceasefire, Gaza authorities reported almost daily ceasefire violations by the regime.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former war minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The regime also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its military campaign.
Furthermore, another Palestinian soccer player has been killed in the Zionist regime’s ongoing aggression against the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, raising the death toll of Palestinian athletes to more than 560 over the months-long Israeli onslaught on the besieged territory. 
Local media reported that Hamdan Imad, a 22-year-old player from the Shabab Rafah Club, succumbed to his critical wounds on March 8, when he was targeted by a bomb from an Israeli quadcopter in the Brazil neighborhood of Rafah.
The latest statistics from the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) monitoring violations show that the number of martyrs from the sports community has risen to more than 560 since October 7, 2023, including 250 football players.
Meanwhile, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Alice Jill Edwards said many Palestinians have died while in the Zionist regime’s custody and called for an acceleration of investigations into these deaths.
Attending the 58th UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, the UN rapporteur told Anadolu that the recent ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza was a positive step. However, she criticized the treatment of detainees following Oct. 7, 2023. 
Edwards said many Palestinian prisoners released under the exchange agreement had been arbitrarily detained and held in extremely harsh conditions. 
She highlighted that some of the released prisoners appeared weak and in poor health, emphasizing the need for independent and impartial investigations into allegations of torture.
“The last I heard, there were 10,500 detainees prior to the exchanges,” Edwards said, adding: “Of course, exchanges are happening, and others are being released as investigations close or when there are no good grounds for holding people.”
“There have also been a number of deaths in Israeli custody which are undergoing investigation, I would like to see those procedures expedited,” she said.