Middle East & North Africa

Contact CPJ Middle East & North Africa

Twitter: @CPJMena
Facebook: لجنة حماية الصحفيين بالعربية
Interim Program Coordinator:
Yeganeh Rezaian

Tel: +1 212-300-9018, +1 212-300-9017
Fax: +1 212-214-0640

Knight Foundation Press Freedom Center
P.O. Box 2675
New York, NY 10108 USA

  
Mourners gather at the funeral of Syrian photojournalist Anas Alkharboutli in Syria's northern city of Idlib on December 4, 2024. Alkharboutli was killed in an air strike near the Syrian city of Hama on December 3, his employer said. (Photo: AFP/Omar Haj Kadour)

Award-winning Syrian photojournalist Anas Alkharboutli killed in Hama

Sulaymaniyah, December 4, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is saddened and alarmed by the killing of award-winning Syrian journalist Anas Alkharboutli in a western Syria conflict zone and calls for an investigation into whether he was targeted for his work. Alkharboutli, 32, who worked as a photographer for the German agency dpa, was killed in…

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Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war

The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. As of December 5, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 137 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon…

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Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting the Israel-Gaza war

Since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, journalists and media 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 carrying…

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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 December 5, 2024, CPJ has documented a total of 75 arrests of journalists in the Palestinian…

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A damaged car marked with 'Press' at the site of an Israeli strike that killed a few journalists and wounded several others as they slept in guesthouses used by media in Hasbaya in southern Lebanon on October 25, 2024

CPJ calls for international probe after evidence indicates Israel targeted journalists in deadly Lebanon strike 

New York, November 26, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for an immediate international investigation into a deadly Israeli strike in Lebanon that legal experts believe could be a war crime as it likely deliberately targeted civilians, killing three members of the media. “Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted,” said CPJ CEO Jodie…

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CPJ calls on Israel to lift government boycott of Haaretz newspaper

New York, November 25, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israel to end its sanctions against Israel’s Haaretz newspaper — the latest in the government’s efforts to stifle independent reporting of its war in Gaza.  “We deplore the Israeli government’s attempt to silence a respected Israeli outlet like Haaretz by hurting their advertising and…

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Global coalition of NGOs calls for immediate ceasefire in Lebanon

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 51 other non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement on Thursday, November 14, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. The statement said Israel had attacked protected persons, including journalists, health workers, peacekeepers, and emergency responders, and called on the international community to “condemn and demand an immediate end to…

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EU must act decisively to halt Israel’s silencing of journalists

New York, November 13, 2024—Ahead of their November 18 meeting, CPJ calls on European Union foreign ministers to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement in light of Israel’s unprecedented attack on press freedom and ongoing abuses of international law. The agreement sets out the EU’s legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation with…

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Egypt sentences detained journalist to 25 years; accused of threatening 2nd journalist

Washington, D.C., November 13, 2024—Egyptian authorities sentenced in absentia journalist Yasser Abu Al-Ela to 25 years in prison on Sunday, November 10, on charges of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news. Separately, press freedom advocate Rasha Azab accused the Interior Minister and the head of the National Security Agency of orchestrating recent threats against her and surveilling her movements, which culminated…

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Alaa Abdelfattah

CPJ, others ask UN working group for update on Egyptian writer Alaa Abdelfattah

The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 26 other press freedom and human rights organizations, sent a letter on November 12 to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking updates on the urgent appeal filed on November 14, 2023, concerning the imprisonment of Egyptian writer Alaa Abdelfattah. The appeal, submitted by Abdelfattah and…

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