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

Beirut, March 25, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the masked Israeli settlers who assaulted Palestinian documentary film director Hamdan Ballal and the Israeli soldiers who arrested him in the occupied West Bank on Monday to be held to account. Ballal, who was freed on Tuesday, was one of four co-directors of “No Other…

Beirut, March 24, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s killing in Gaza of Palestinian reporters Hossam Shabat and Mohammed Mansour by the Israel Defense Forces and calls for an independent international investigation into whether they were deliberately targeted. On March 24, deadly Israeli strikes hit the car of Qatari-based Al Jazeera Mubasher’s Shabat near…

Brussels, January 24, 2025–European Union officials and foreign ministers must seize the opportunity provided by the Gaza ceasefire at January 27’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting to ensure that a free press can prevail, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. CPJ urges the EU to call for independent investigations into the deliberate targeting of journalists…

Beirut, January 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s reports of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and calls on authorities to grant unconditional access to journalists and independent human rights experts to investigate crimes committed against the media during the 15-month long war.  “Journalists have been paying the highest price…

Haitian journalist Jean Marc Jean was covering an anti-government protest in Port-au-Prince in February 2024 when he was struck in the face by a gas canister fired by police into the crowd. One of at least five journalists injured while covering civil unrest in the country that month, Jean arrived at the hospital with a…

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a decision by the Palestinian Authority to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations in the West Bank. “Governments resort to censoring news outlets when they have something to hide,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “The Palestinian Authority should reverse its decision to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations and allow journalists to report freely without fear…

Beirut, December 26, 2024—Israeli forces killed five journalists and media workers with Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, a channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group, in a Thursday strike on their vehicle outside Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. The Associated Press reported that footage showed the van had visible press markings. “CPJ denounces Israel’s killing…

Beirut, December 16, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly denounces the killings of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza during the past week and calls for the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks against the media. “At least 95 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide in 2024,” CPJ’s CEO…

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…

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…