The nominating statement reads as follows:

Since 7 October 2023, foreign journalists have been barred from the Gaza Strip. All the sounds, words and pictures broadcast from the enclave have come from approximately 1,000 Gazan journalists – around ten percent of whom have now lost their lives. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) counts as members around four fifths of Gaza’s media workers. This nomination honours them all, via the union that has supported them all, regardless of membership. Gaza’s journalists have little food, water and fuel. Most are homeless and struggle to obtain such basic necessaries as clothing, bedding and tents. Their mortality rate is without precedent. Nearly all have lost loved ones. Despite this, Gaza’s journalists have continued to film, record, describe and document what has happened to their communities. No group of journalists have paid so heavily to inform so many. PJS’ support work builds on many years defending and promoting a free press in Palestine.

The annual UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was created in honour of Guillermo Cano, a Colombian journalist who was assassinated in the line of duty in 1986. Created in 1997, this Prize is awarded annually to a person, organisation or institution that has made a notable contribution to the defence or promotion of press freedom, especially if risks have been involved.

The laureate of this year's prize will receive US $25,000 and a medal at a ceremony scheduled to take place on World Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2024.

IFJ deputy general secretary Tim Dawson said: “Amid the unfolding horror of the war in Gaza over the past five months, the enclave’s journalists have been the only ones able to project a view of events for the rest of the world. During that period, their union, of which the vast majority are members, has played a unique role, sustaining and supporting all those brave reporters. Recognising that role would be an apt way to recognise all who documented Gaza’s tragedy, as well as honouring the extraordinary number who have payed the ultimate price.