Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory / Middle East & North Africa

See CPJ’s data on journalists and media workers killed the Israel Gaza war here.

  
Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, winners of the Special Jury Prize for "Naza," attend a photocall on the red carpet following the closing ceremony of the 83rd Venice Film Festival on September 12, 2026.

CPJ, partners call on Israel to protect NAZA filmmakers’ fundamental rights

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 10 international press freedom organizations are calling on Israeli authorities to protect the safety and fundamental rights of Israeli investigative journalists and filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor following threats by senior officials and escalating intimidation targeting the journalists, their families, and media outlets that publish their work. In…

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CPJ demands release of arrested Palestinian-US journalist near Bethlehem

Amman September 17, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israeli authorities to immediately release Palestinian-American journalist Naqaa Hamed, arrested on Tuesday at a temporary Israeli army checkpoint in the village of Tuqu, near Bethlehem.  Hamed, a freelancer with the local 4D Media production company, was returning from a work assignment for Turkish…

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Investigative journalist Yuval Abraham and filmmaker Rachel Szor attend the red carpet of the closing ceremony of the 83rd Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido on September 12, 2026.

Netanyahu escalates threats against ‘NAZA’ filmmakers with proposed citizenship law

Paris, September 17, 2026 — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that his government will seek legislation to revoke the citizenship of Israelis who “defame” Israeli soldiers abroad, explicitly citing the documentary “NAZA” and its filmmakers, investigative journalist Yuval Abraham and filmmaker Rachel Szor, is a dangerous escalation in official efforts to intimidate and punish…

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Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has threatened to seek the revocation of journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham (left) and filmmaker Rachel Szor's (right) citizenships after the release of their latest film "NAZA."

CPJ condemns Israeli threats against ‘NAZA’ filmmakers

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israeli authorities to immediately end threats of legal action against Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham and filmmaker Rachel Szor over their documentary “NAZA,” which accuses the Israeli military of using AI-powered targeting systems in the mass killing of civilians in Gaza. Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has…

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An Israeli settler records a Palestinian journalist using his mobile phone, who in turn records the settler, as they cover the demolition of Palestinian-owned buildings on the outskirts of Birzeit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 31, 2026.

Kicked, threatened, shot at: Israeli settler violence hits West Bank journalists

Palestinian freelance journalist Salman al-Khatib and his colleagues were filming Israeli demolitions of homes in the occupied West Bank late last month when a young settler approached them, blocked their cameras, shoved the journalists, and kicked Al-Khatib. After another settler arrived on the scene, located between the towns of Birzeit and Atara, north of Ramallah,…

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Journalists in Lebanon and Gaza injured amid fragile ceasefires

Amman, September 7, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the recent escalation in Israeli strikes on Gaza and Lebanon, which have injured at least four journalists, including three on Sunday, underscoring the fragility of the ceasefires in both locations.  On September 6, 2026, Lebanese correspondent for the local Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV…

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A handwritten note left at the scene demanded Channel 12 apologize for its reporting on Sde Teiman and warned that the attacks would continue until it did so, threatening “someone will die in the end.”

Israel’s Channel 12 attacked for second time, journalists receive death threat 

Nazareth, Israel, July 29, 2026 —The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the latest attack on the headquarters of Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 News, where a masked individual smashed the building’s glass entrance doors and left a handwritten note containing a death threat over its coverage of the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the…

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CPJ undertakes review of its documentation of journalists killed in Israel-Gaza war since 2023

New York, June 25, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is conducting a full review of its database of journalists killed during the Israel-Gaza War after militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published obituaries identifying as combatants individuals previously listed by CPJ as journalists. In all countries and conflicts, CPJ removes names from…

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These 6 foreign journalists have been denied entry by Israel 

When French journalist Alice Froussard landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport a week ago, she arrived with a valid travel authorization and plans to report from the occupied West Bank, where she had worked for years. By the next morning, Israeli authorities placed her on a flight back to Paris, denying her entry.  She…

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Israeli soldiers are seen on a vessel bearing symbols of the Global Sumud Flotilla, with a cargo ship behind it, as seen from Ashdod, southern Israel, on May 19, 2026.

CPJ calls for humane treatment, release of press detained aboard Gaza-bound flotilla

Beirut, May 21, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by the video showing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir taunting those detained aboard the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla at Ashdod Port in Israel, which included at least 14 international journalists, while they were handcuffed and held in stress positions on the…

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