Middle East & North Africa

In early March, as the Iran war spread across the Middle East and Israeli strikes rained down on Lebanon, many journalists covering the country’s growing displacement crisis found themselves living it. For freelance video journalist Hadil Iskandar, who has worked for German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and pan-Arab outlet Daraj Media, it was the second time…

New York, March 16, 2026 – Sudan’s paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) must immediately release Nyala State Radio reporters Mawaheb Ibrahim, Zahraa Muhammad Al-Hassan, and Ishraqah Abdulrahan, a presenter and host at the radio station, who have been detained in Nyala, South Darfur, since February 28, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday….

Sulaymaniyah, March 11, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Syrian authorities to clarify the fate and whereabouts of German journalist Eva Maria Michelmann and Kurdish-Turkish journalist Ahmed Polad, whom their outlets and relatives say have not been heard from since January 18, when the northeastern Syrian city of Raqqa fell to government…

Amman, March 9, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of Palestinian journalist Amal Shamaly, a correspondent for Qatar Radio, in an Israeli strike early Monday on tents housing displaced people in central Gaza. According to reports, the strike west of the village of Az-Zawayda, killed Shamaly, two other people and injured…

New York, March 3, 2026 –The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of all journalists imprisoned in Iran amid the ongoing regional escalation and reiterates its calls on Iranian authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally.  A near-total internet blackout and severe communication disruptions have effectively cut off detainees from…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined four other organizations in calling on Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Al-Manassa cartoonist Ashraf Omar, who has been in prison for almost 20 months. Following his arrest on July 22, 2024, Omar was charged with “joining a terrorist group,” “spreading false news,” and “misusing social media.” On…

Amman, February 26, 2026 –– The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israeli authorities to lift their recent ban on five Palestinian news outlets, which Israel has designated “terrorist organizations,” placing them under security restrictions typically reserved for armed groups. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz signed an order on Sunday banning several privately-owned platforms —…

New York, February 26, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to immediately release Shinnosuke Kawashima, Tehran bureau chief of Japanese public broadcaster NHK, and all other journalists detained for their work, return all confiscated property, and end the harassment of NHK’s staff. Shinnosuke was arrested on January 20 by the…

Sulaymaniyah, February 24, 2026 —The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a prompt and transparent investigation into the killing of journalist Alaa Mohammed, who was found dead at his home in Syria’s coastal governorate of Lattakia on February 21.  Mohammad, who belonged to the country’s Alawite minority, was initially known as a sports journalist before…

Content warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of physical, psychological, and sexual violence. Palestinian journalist Ahmed Abdel Aal remembers the moment the ear-splitting music started. For five days, he said, he was held blindfolded in a room in an Israeli detention site, stripped and beaten, while loud Hebrew and English songs played at an unrelenting…