Raffaele Ciriello

While the press is largely free within Israel proper, the country's military assault on the Occupied Territories fueled a sharp deterioration in press freedom in the West Bank and Gaza during much of 2002. Despite vocal international protest, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) committed an assortment of press freedom abuses, ranging from banning press access in the West Bank to opening fire on journalists covering events.

New York, March 18, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today called on Israel to provide a full accounting of a series of incidents in which a journalist was killed and several others were shot at during the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) large-scale military operation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip last week.

"The attempts now under way to achieve a cease-fire provide an opportune time for the Israeli authorities to investigate incidents that left one journalist dead and put several others in life-threatening situations," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "Covering conflict is an inherently dangerous business, but the IDF must exercise maximum restraint to avoid further harm to journalists reporting on this important news story."

New York, March 13, 2002—CPJ is shocked and saddened by the death of Italian free-lance photographer Raffaele Ciriello, who was killed this morning by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to press reports and eyewitness testimony.

Ciriello, who was on assignment for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, is the first foreign journalist killed while covering the current Palestinian uprising, which began in September 2000.