Mohamed Mandour
Mohamed Mandour joined CPJ as a Middle East and North Africa researcher in 2023. He holds a master’s degree in human rights with a minor in law and a concentration in national security and accountability from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School. Mandour previously worked as a Bassem Sabry research fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy and has been recognized as an emerging expert by the Forum on the Arms Trade. His research interests include exile activism, transnational repression, and digital repression in the MENA region. Follow him on LinkedIn.
Israel’s killing of 31 Yemeni journalists marks deadliest global attack in 16 years
Israel’s targeted strikes on two newspaper offices in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which killed 31 journalists and media support workers on September 10, signal that its deadly pattern of attacking reporters and newsrooms on the grounds that they publish “terrorist” propaganda has spread firmly across the Middle East. Yemen’s 26 September newspaper was the first to…
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…
Arrests of Palestinian journalists since start of Israel-Gaza war
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 12, 2025, CPJ has documented 94 arrests of journalists in the Palestinian territories of the…
Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting during the Israel-Gaza war
Since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, journalists and news outlets 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…