Middle East & North Africa

New York, November 25, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israel to end its sanctions against Israel’s Haaretz newspaper — the latest in the government’s efforts to stifle independent reporting of its war in Gaza.  “We deplore the Israeli government’s attempt to silence a respected Israeli outlet like Haaretz by hurting their advertising and…

The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. As of November 25, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 137 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon…

Since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, journalists and media across the region have faced a hostile environment that has made reporting on the war exceptionally challenging.   In addition to documenting the growing tally of journalists killed and injured, CPJ’s research has found multiple kinds of incidents of journalists being targeted while carrying…

Since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, an unprecedented number of journalists and media workers have been arrested — often without charge — in what they and their attorneys say is retaliation for their journalism and commentary. As of November 25, 2024, CPJ has documented a total of 74 arrests of journalists in the Palestinian…

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 51 other non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement on Thursday, November 14, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. The statement said Israel had attacked protected persons, including journalists, health workers, peacekeepers, and emergency responders, and called on the international community to “condemn and demand an immediate end to…

New York, November 13, 2024—Ahead of their November 18 meeting, CPJ calls on European Union foreign ministers to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement in light of Israel’s unprecedented attack on press freedom and ongoing abuses of international law. The agreement sets out the EU’s legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation with…

Washington, D.C., November 13, 2024—Egyptian authorities sentenced in absentia journalist Yasser Abu Al-Ela to 25 years in prison on Sunday, November 10, on charges of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news. Separately, press freedom advocate Rasha Azab accused the Interior Minister and the head of the National Security Agency of orchestrating recent threats against her and surveilling her movements, which culminated…

The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 26 other press freedom and human rights organizations, sent a letter on November 12 to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking updates on the urgent appeal filed on November 14, 2023, concerning the imprisonment of Egyptian writer Alaa Abdelfattah. The appeal, submitted by Abdelfattah and…

On Wednesday, November 6, an Israeli strike killed at least 15 people in a house in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. But communications difficulties meant that the Gaza health ministry struggled to determine the death toll. This is just one example among countless others where local reporters were able to help verify information about potential atrocities…

Sulaymaniyah, November 8, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for full accountability in the attack on journalist Wrya Abdulkhaliq, who received 21 stitches after two men stabbed his stomach and hit him in the head with the butt of a gun, in his home near Iraqi Kurdistan’s Sulaymaniyah city. “We are appalled by the brutal…