EU supports 'freedom of press' after Italian reporter sacked for question on Israeli payments to rebuild Gaza

News agency journalist says he stands by the legitimacy of his question to EU spokesman

The European Commission has sought to respond to the controversy over an Italian journalist who was sacked for questioning its stance on Israel and Gaza, compared to the position on Ukraine.

The Brussel's administration said it had nothing to do with the firing of Gabriele Nunziati by his employer after he asked the Brussels-based institution whether Israel should pay for Gaza's reconstruction.

Mr Nunziati is one of the hundreds of journalists accredited to cover EU institutions but his situation raised questions for the Commission on its own commitment to press freedom, a core value of EU institutions.

“The European Commission attaches the utmost importance to freedom of the press. We demonstrate that commitment on a daily basis here in this press room,” said EU Commission deputy spokesman Olof Gill after news broke of Mr Nunziati's firing.

Mr Gill added that “no contact has taken place between anyone at the European Commission and the media in question”, in a reference to Mr Nunziati's employer, Nova news agency, which is based in Rome.

In a joint press release, the international federation of journalists and the European federation of journalists called for his reinstatement. They said the reporter had been censored and prevented from carrying out his job freely.

“It is unacceptable that a question, no matter how uncomfortable, could cost him his job”, the IFJ's affiliate, the National Federation of Italian Press, said.

A representative for Nova news agency told Italian online news website Fanpage.it that he was fired for asking a “technically incorrect” question that demonstrated his ignorance of international law and brought “embarrassment to the agency” because it went viral.

“The problem is that Russia […] invaded Ukraine, a sovereign country, without being provoked” while “Israel suffered an armed attack”, the agency said.

At a press conference on October 13, Mr Nunziati asked: “You’ve been repeating several times that Russia should pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Do you believe that Israel should pay for the reconstruction of Gaza since they have destroyed almost all the strip and the civilian infrastructure?”

Chief spokeswoman Paula Pinho responded by saying it was an “interesting question”, which she did not wish to comment on. Satellite imagery collected in September showed that about 83 per cent of all structures in Gaza city are damaged, two years into Israel's war against the enclave.

Mr Nunziati then received several phone calls from his employer to tell him that his “question had not been appreciated”, he said on Instagram. He was informed by letter on October 27 that the working relationship would end on December 1.

The justification given by the agency to Fanpage.it is a denial of reality, according to Mr Nunziati. “It is a fact that Israel has almost completely razed Gaza to the ground; this is not an opinion. It is a fact that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Benjamin Netanyahu and some of his ministers,” he wrote on Instagram. “I fully stand by the legitimacy of my question. The right choices sometimes come at a cost, and I do not regret having paid it.”