To date 67 journalists — the majority of whom were Palestinians reporting from Gaza — have been killed, but many more remain missing or feared dead.

The NUJ has not only hit out at the Israeli high command’s apparent indifference to the unprecedented death toll — and refusal to live up to international obligations to take explicit steps to protect journalists — but called for an immediate investigation into claims journalists are being actively targeted.

Such accusations against the Israeli military are not new — two formal complaints were made to the International Criminal Court last year.

But as anecdotal evidence grows of the systematic targeting of Palestinian colleague,s the NUJ has joined its sister union — the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate — to demand action.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “We continue to stand in solidarity with our sister union which is working tirelessly to support journalists in Gaza and the West Bank.

“Gaza’s journalists remain the only ones providing coverage of what is happening in their neighbourhoods, a responsibility for which they continue to pay a terrible price.

“Yet still they carry on working, doing all they can to keep the eyes of the world focused on the devastation being wrought.

“Ongoing support from fellow journalists around the world is more important than ever.”

She called for an “unprecedented international effort and commitment to negotiate and secure a just, sustainable peace,” saying: “In this future a mutual respect for free expression and unfettered reporting should be a key foundation.”