Middle East & North Africa

  
A general view of Aden, Yemen on February 16, 2018. Violence, famine and disease have ravished the country of some 28 million, which was already the Arab world's poorest before the conflict began. Yemeni journalist Mazen al-Shaabi was attacked by unknown gunmen while driving home the evening of July 23, according to reports. (AP/Nariman El-Mofty)

Yemeni journalist assaulted near Aden

New York, July 27, 2018–Yemeni authorities should credibly investigate the attack on Mazen al-Shaabi, a reporter for United Arab Emirates-funded Sharjah TV, and ensure that journalists operating in areas under their control can work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Al-Shaabi was attacked by unknown assailants the evening of July 23…

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A Palestinian woman argues with an Israeli soldier as the Israeli army removes containers used as a school, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on July 11, 2018. Israeli security forces arrested prominent Palestinian writer in Hebron on July 24. (Reuters/Mussa Qawasma)

Israeli security forces arrest prominent Palestinian writer in West Bank

Beirut, July 27, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern about the arrest and detention without charge of Lama Khater, a Palestinian blogger and contributing opinion writer to several media outlets, including Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, the Hamas-affiliated Quds News Network, and the Arab online women’s publication Meem Magazine.

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi gives a speech in capital Cairo on July 24, 2018. Egypt ordered five more journalists detained in the last two weeks of July 2018. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)

Egypt extends detention of five journalists

Washington, D.C., July 26, 2018– Egyptian national security prosecutors in the past two weeks prolonged the detention of at least five journalists, according to Egypt’s Journalists’ Syndicate, the local press freedom group Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), and news reports. Authorities accuse the journalists, who had been arrested separately beginning in March, of…

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CPJ calls on EU’s Mogherini to assist scores of journalists trapped in southern Syria

CPJ writes to EU’s Mogherini to request assistance with the protection of scores of journalists who remain in southern Syria at grave risk. The more than 60 journalists are in danger of arrest and torture because of their work.

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Children wave Palestinian flags on a main road leading from Jerusalem to the Dead sea at the al-Khan al-Ahmar near Jericho in the occupied West Bank on July 4, 2018. Palestinian Preventative Security Forces on July 22 detained Palestinian journalist Huthifa Abu Jamous, according to reports. (Reuters/Ronen Zvulun)

Palestinian security forces arrest Palestinian photojournalist in West Bank

Beirut, July 25, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern about the arrest of Huthifa Abu Jamous, a Palestinian photojournalist and opinion writer for the Hamas-affiliated Quds News Network.

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Protesters try to move part of the fence along the Gaza Strip border with Israel during a protest east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 20, 2018. Freelance photojournalist Zaki Yahya Awadallah was hit by a live round fired by the Israel Defense Force while covering a protest east of Rafah city on July 20, according to reports. (AP/Adel Hana)

Palestinian photojournalist shot covering Gaza protests

Zaki Yahya Awadallah, a freelance photojournalist, was hit by a live round fired by the Israel Defense Forces while covering a protest east of the southern Gazan city of Rafah on July 20, 2018, according to news reports, the Palestinian press freedom group Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom (MADA), and the regional press…

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Smoke rises from the Quneitra area in southwestern Syria on July 16, 2018. Sama TV reporter Mustafa Salamah was covering the Syrian army's attempt to retake the area when he was fatally injured by a shell, according to reports. (Reuters/ Alaa al Faqir)

Syrian reporter killed in clashes in Quneitra province

New York, July 18, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the killing of reporter Mustafa Salamah in Syria and urged all parties in the country’s ongoing conflict to allow journalists to work freely and safely. Salamah, who worked for the pro-Bashar al-Assad government satellite channel Sama TV, died July 16 after being injured covering…

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A man sits in a car trunk in Gaza City in July 2018. Israel has banned the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds TV from operating in the region. (Reuters/ Marius Bosch)

Israel bans Hamas-affiliated Palestinian station Al-Quds TV

Beirut, July 17, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today urged the Israeli authorities to lift a ban on the Palestinian broadcaster Al-Quds TV.

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The entrance of the Yarmouk camp in Damascus in May 2018. A Palestinian photojournalist who covered life in the camp has died while in Syrian government custody. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)

Palestinian photojournalist jailed in 2015 dies in Syrian government custody

Beirut, July 16, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Syrian authorities to conduct an immediate and transparent investigation into the death of Niraz Saeed, a Palestinian-Syrian photojournalist who died in state custody. The news of his death comes as dozens of journalists trapped in southwest Syria have appealed for help to escape the…

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Sunset at the seaside in Beirut, Lebanon in May 2018. Beirut's Publication Court on July 5, 2018, convicted and fined five Lebanese journalists for offenses including criminal defamation and spreading false news, according to reports. (Reuters/ Jamal Saidi)

Lebanon charges journalists with defamation, false news

Beirut’s Publication Court, headed by Judge Raffoul Bustani, on July 5, 2018, convicted and fined five Lebanese journalists for offenses including criminal defamation and spreading false news, according to news reports and the regional press freedom group Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom. The court, which deals with media regulation, issued the fines in…

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