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

Update: News reports late Saturday, October 28, indicated the blackout was easing, but communications have yet to be fully restored. New York, October 27, 2023 – The Israel-Gaza war has entered a new stage with intensified bombing and ground operations by Israeli forces. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is highly alarmed by widespread reports of…

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…

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…

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday joined over 200 organizations in urging the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. Secretary General, and all world leaders to ensure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to prevent further harm to civilians. At least 19 journalists, who are civilians under international law, have been…

New York, October 18, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urgently calls on Israel not to close the local bureau of Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera and to allow the media to report freely on news events in Israel and Gaza during the current conflict. “We are deeply concerned by Israeli officials’ threats to censor media coverage…

New York, October 13, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Friday shelling in southern Lebanon from the direction of Israel that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists. Those wounded include two other Reuters journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, two Al-Jazeera TV staffers, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, and Agence France-Press journalists Christina Assi…

As of December 12, 2025, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 249 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Israel, and Iran since the Israel-Gaza war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992. To date, CPJ has…

New York, October 9, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday that it was deeply disturbed by reports that at least six journalists were among the civilians who were killed, injured or missing in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza. On Saturday, two Palestinian journalists were shot dead while out reporting—Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi,…

New York, October 7, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israel to investigate the killing on Saturday of Palestinian journalist Mohammad El-Salhi, make its findings public, and take immediate action to ensure the safety of media workers reporting on the biggest attack on Israel in years by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. In Saturday’s assault, Hamas…