Dozens of relatives of Palestinian journalists killed during the Israeli offensive on Gaza took part in a sit-in protest in front of the UN offices in Gaza City on Thursday demanding an international committee to investigate their relatives’ deaths. The Israeli offensive left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead in the tiny coastal enclave, including 16 journalists, one media worker, and one media activist, according to the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms.

Palestinian men move the body of journalist, Rami Rayan, the victim of an Israeli air strike on a market place to an ambulance in the Shejaiya neighbourhood near Gaza City on July 30, 2014 (Photo: Ashraf Amra)

The media watchdog said earlier this month that seven Palestinian journalists were killed by Israeli forces in August, while nine were killed in July, the bloodiest month on record for Palestinian media. Families in Gaza are now demanding an international committee to investigate Israeli “crimes against journalists” in Gaza.

The head of Gaza’s governmental media office, Salama Maruf, told Ma’an that the sit-in hopes to uncover the “truth” behind the killings. In addition to the dead, more than a dozen journalists were also injured during the more than 50-day Israeli assault, while Palestinian media stations were repeatedly bombed.