Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza has exacted an unprecedented and horrific toll on Palestinian journalists and the region’s media landscape.
At least 128 journalists and media workers, all but five of them Palestinian, have been killed – more journalists than have died in the course of any year since CPJ began documenting journalist killings in 1992. All of the killings, except two Israeli journalists killed in the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, were carried out by Israeli forces. CPJ has found that at least five journalists were specifically targeted by Israel for their work.
At least 69 Palestinian journalists have been arrested since the start of the war, 66 by Israel and three by Palestinian authorities. Forty-three were still behind bars as of October 4. On a per capita basis, Israeli authorities now hold the highest number of detained journalists in the world in a given year over the past two decades.
The killings, along with censorship, arrests, the continued ban on independent media access into Gaza, persistent internet shutdowns, the destruction of media outlets, and displacement of the Gaza media community, have severely restricted reporting on the war and hampered documentation.
In Israel, press freedom has been curtailed by the passage of a new law that empowers the government to ban media outlets, an increasing number of banned articles, government officials’ anti-press rhetoric, alleged attempts to control news outlets, and attacks on both international and local reporters in the West Bank and Israel, among other threats.
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See CPJ’s full coverage of the Israel-Gaza war
A CPJ special report ahead of the November vote finds that the hostile media climate fostered during Donald Trump’s presidency has continued to fester, with members of the press confronting challenges that could shape the global media environment for decades.
“It is concerning that in an increasingly polarized environment, threats to the media have become routine in the U.S.,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator and author of the report. “The scapegoating of journalists not only has consequences for them personally, but also poses grave risks to the public’s right to be informed, a core element of any democracy.”
Threats to journalists include police assaults, violence, and online harassment, with work-related attacks in the first nine of months of 2024 increasing by more than 50% compared to 2023. Media outlets are also facing a draining onslaught of lawsuits that could endanger reporters’ First Amendment rights and ability to protect confidential sources.
We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
AlHassan Hamad
Freelance,Al Jazeera,Media Town TV, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Mohammed Abed Rabbo
Al-Manara Agency, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Muhammad Bachal Ghunio
Awaz TV, Pakistan
Ryan Evans
Reuters, Ukraine
Hero Bahadin
Chatr Multimedia Production Company,Sterk TV, Iraq
Gulistan Tara
Chatr Multimedia Production Company, Iraq