Kholod Massalha
Kholod Massalha is a CPJ consultant on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and a researcher with years of experience in press freedom and freedom of expression issues.
Surging Israeli settler violence hurts West Bank journalists
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, November 14, 2025—With settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank spiking, journalists are also facing more frequent and severe attacks. So far in 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented 11 attack incidents involving at least 23 Palestinian and international journalists by Israeli settlers — some alongside soldiers — compared…
Palestinian journalists targeted with Ramadan bans, arrests at Al-Aqsa holy site
Nazareth, November 4, 2025—Israeli police banned at least 10 Palestinian journalists from Jerusalem’s disputed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during Ramadan this year, CPJ has found, in what many view as a deliberate effort to censor coverage of the holy site. Intimidatory tactics against the press have increased in the two years since the start of the…
Israel uses Iran war to escalate assaults on press
Nazareth, Israel, July 9, 2025—Israel’s 12-day war with Iran provided Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government with an opportunity to step up its assault on the press — a trend that has since continued apace. “Media freedom is often a casualty of war, and Israel’s recent war with Iran is no exception. We have seen Israeli…