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 November 21, 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…
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…
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 21, 2024, CPJ has documented a total of 74 arrests of journalists in the Palestinian…
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…
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…
‘Catastrophic’: Journalists say ethnic cleansing taking place in a news void in northern Gaza
On Wednesday, November 6, an Israeli strike killed at least 15 people in a house in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. But communications difficulties meant that the Gaza health ministry struggled to determine the death toll. This is just one example among countless others where local reporters were able to help verify information about potential atrocities…
UN expert committee: Israel’s detention of Palestinian journalists unlawful
The finding follows CPJ’s submission; expert body requests journalists’ immediate release due to arbitrary detention. New York, October 29, 2024—United Nations legal experts determined that Israel’s detention of three Palestinian journalists — Moath Amarneh, Mohammad Badr, and Ameer Abu Iram — is discriminatory, arbitrary, and in violation of international law. The expert opinion by the…
Journalists face Israeli strikes, displacement, attacks as war escalates in Lebanon
The recent escalation of Israel’s war in Lebanon has imperiled the press as they face Israeli strikes that have destroyed news outlet offices and killed at least three journalists, in addition to being assaulted, obstructed, threatened, and detained while reporting. At about 3 a.m. on October 25, an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing 18 journalists from multiple…
CPJ, partners support US Congress call to let international media access Gaza independently
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 18 other press freedom and human rights organizations issued a statement supporting a call from members of the U.S. Congress, led by Rep. Jim McGovern, asking the Biden-Harris administration to urge Israel to allow independent access to Gaza for U.S. and international journalists, in the interest of transparency, accountability,…
Press freedom groups demand Israel authorizes medical evacuation of 2 Al Jazeera journalists
Three leading press freedom organizations, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), on Tuesday, October 15, urgently called on the Israeli military office responsible for humanitarian coordination, known as COGAT, to authorize the evacuation of two critically wounded journalists who require immediate, lifesaving medical treatment. The letter,…