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.

  
Palestinian members of the Hamas security forces patrol in the town of Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, on March 22, 2018. Hamas detained at least 3 Palestinian journalists after Gaza cost-of-living protests in mid-March 2019. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Hamas detains at least 3 Palestinian journalists after Gaza cost-of-living protests

Beirut, March 19, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the detention of at least three Gazan journalists and called on authorities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to release them immediately.

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Soldiers guard an Israeli border crossing in the town of Metulla on December 4, 2018. A photojournalist living in East Jerusalem is currently sentenced to deportation to Jordan, a country he has no ties to. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

Photographer detained, sentenced to deportation by Israeli authorities

Beirut, March 8, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern about the prolonged detention of Mustafa al-Kharouf, a photographer for the Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency, and called for Israeli authorities to either clarify the reasons for his detention and deportation order or release him immediately.

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On International Women’s Day, CPJ highlights jailed female journalists

On International Women’s Day, CPJ has highlighted the cases of female journalists jailed around the world in retaliation for their work. At least 33 of the 251 journalists in jail at the time of CPJ’s prison census are women. At least one of those–Turkish reporter and artist Zehra Dogan–was released in February after serving a…

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Palestinians hold portraits of reporter Yasser Murtaja on April 13, 2018. A UN commission recently stated that Murtaja and fellow Palestinian journalist Ahmed Abu Hussein were 'intentionally shot' by Israeli snipers. (Thomas Coex/AFP)

UN commission: Israeli snipers ‘intentionally shot’ Palestinian journalists in 2018, killing 2

New York, February 28, 2019 — The Israeli government must hold to account everyone responsible for killing Palestinian journalists Yaser Murtaja and Ahmed Abu Hussein in April 2018, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 25, 2019, a U.N. independent commission of inquiry said it “found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers…

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A Palestinian man reads a newspaper on March 31, 2018. A reporter for the London-based Quds Press News Agency, Yousef al-Faqeeh, was recently detained in the West Bank. (Hazem Bader/AFP)

Palestinian security forces arrest journalist Yousef al-Faqeeh

Beirut, January 23, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the arrest of Palestinian journalist Yousef al-Faqeeh, a reporter for the London-based Quds Press News Agency, and called on the Palestinian Authority to release him immediately.

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A Palestinian man reads a newspaper outside his store in Gaza City. The executive director of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate was recently detained and beaten by security forces in Gaza.

Hamas forces detain and allegedly assault director of Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate

Beirut, January 16, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the detention and alleged assault of Louay al-Ghoul, the executive director of the Gaza branch of the Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, a journalists’ union.

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A street in the West Bank city of Nablus is seen on May 15, 2018. Two journalists were recently arrested in the West Bank; one has been released, but the other remains behind bars. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Palestinian security forces arrested 2 journalists in West Bank in late December

Beirut, January 9, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern about the arrests last month of Palestinian journalists Zaid Abu Ara, a reporter for the London-based Quds Press News Agency, and Motasem Saqf al-Hit, a photographer for the Hamas-affiliated Quds News Network. Al-Hit has been released, but Abu Ara remains in detention.

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An employee checks the damage in a studio after a raid by assailants on the offices of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation in Gaza City on Friday, January 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Unknown assailants ransack broadcaster’s office in Gaza

Beirut, January 7, 2019 — The Palestinian authorities in Gaza should immediately investigate the January 4 attack on the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)-affiliated Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) in Gaza and swiftly bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Protesters take cover from teargas fired by Israeli troops near the fence of the Gaza Strip border with Israel during a protest on the beach near Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Three Palestinian photojournalists injured covering Gaza protests since November 19

Rashid Rasheed, a photojournalist and cameraman for the Associated Press news agency, was hit in his left leg by a live round fired by the Israel Defense Forces while covering a protest on a beach near the border fence west of the northern Gazan city of Beit Lahia on November 19, 2018, according to news…

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Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is led handcuffed from a court in Yangon in September. He and colleague Wa Lone are serving seven-year prison sentences in Myanmar. (Reuters/Ann Wang)

Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal

For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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