Israel Accused of Killing Palestinian Journalists in ‘Unprecedented Numbers and Targeting Their Families’

The killing of, and attacks on, Palestinian journalists in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank continues unabated while foreign journalists are banned from the conflict-zone and targeted by counter-terrorism laws.

On 23 August, the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) released its latest report on the “unprecedented toll” the war, ignited by a Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, has taken on Gazan journalists.

CPJ’s preliminary investigations revealed at least 115 journalists and media workers were among the more than 41,000 killed since the war began, “making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992,” the report states.

A further 33 journalists were injured, two were missing and 52 arrested, the CPJ said, adding that it is investigating another 350 additional cases of “potential killings, arrest and injuries since October 7” along with numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, going missing and being detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes.

In December 2023, CPJ reported that not only was there a pattern of targeting journalists but also their families and that in at least two cases journalists had received threatening calls from Israel Defence Forces officers and Israeli officials shortly before their family members were killed.

In February, the UN stated a higher death toll among journalists, at 122, and Palestinians in Gaza say to date 171 Journalists have been killed there.

On 31 July, two Gazan journalists working for Al Jazeera, Ismail Al Ghoul and Rami El Refee, were killed in an Israeli airstrike when there was no fighting taking place. Al Jazeera accused Israel of assassinating them.

The Qatari-based network has lost a number of its journalists in Gaza following Israeli attacks and has been banned from reporting in the country while its staff in the West Bank have faced intimidation.

Israel banned Al Jazeera following the passing of its ‘Law Preventing a Foreign Broadcaster from Harming National Security’, which could also affect other foreign media outlets based in the country.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel unsuccessfully tried to overturn a ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza to report independently by challenging it at Israel’s Supreme Court.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported on 18 August that “freelance reporter Ibrahim Muhareb was killed and his colleague Salma al-Qaddoumi was wounded when an Israeli tank deliberately fired on a group of identifiable journalists, according to witnesses and video footage.”

RSF has filed three complaints with the International Criminal Court accusing Israeli forces of committing war crimes against journalists since 7 October 2023.

The situation for Palestinian journalists in the West Bank, while better than Gaza, is still bad, with the RSF explaining: “In the West Bank, where journalists were already the victims of abuses by both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli occupying forces, Israeli pressure has intensified since 7 October, with an increase in arrests of reporters and obstructions to their work.”

Omar Nazzal, a board member of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, told Byline Times that there was a general feeling among journalists that the Israelis were pushing for a new front to open in the West Bank.

“The increased attacks by Israeli settlers, supported by soldiers, as they drive Palestinian communities out, are a sign that Israel wants to rid the territory of Palestinians for good,” he said.

Riyad al-Maliki, the advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the Palestinian Authority expects the Israeli army to launch a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank, coinciding with the increasing escalation of settler attacks against Palestinians.

Nazzal travels regularly from Ramallah to Jenin and says the journey always makes him nervous.

“We are always worried about our security as we never know when the settlers will attack or when soldiers will shoot at us. On a good day we are just held up at the checkpoints for hours with no injuries,” said Nazzal.

Jafaar Ashtiyeh, a photojournalist with AFP, has been covering the West Bank for decades reporting on numerous clashes and shootings, often accompanied by Byline Times.

“I’ve been shot at with live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets, and been beaten up in over 20 attacks by soldiers,” Ashtiyeh told Byline Times.

“However, since October 7 the situation has got extremely dangerous for us as a result of Israeli settler and soldier attacks.

The soldiers deliberately target journalists, including trying to run us over, and now use live ammunition as a first step and without provocation, forcing us to cover stories from as safe a distance as possible while still trying to get the pictures and cover the stories

Jafaar Ashtiyeh, AFP photojournalist

Foreign journalists have also faced interference from Israeli settlers and soldiers while trying to report in the West Bank with teams from CNN, ABC (Australia) and Frontline being held up and questioned.

Meanwhile, a number of British journalists, critical of Israel, the foreign policies of the US and the UK, have been targeted, arrested and interrogated by British police under “anti-terror” laws with critics slamming the authorities and accusing them of trying to silence and intimidate journalists.

On 15 August, British activist and journalist Richard Medhurst, whose parents both worked as UN peacekeepers, was arrested and escorted off a flight at London’s Heathrow Airport by six detectives.

He was detained for 24 hours and held in solitary confinement after being interrogated for hours. Medhurst was also forced to eat food with a piece of cardboard.

“The threshold for arresting journalists is very, very low,” Medhurst told Glen Greenwald during an interview posted on YouTube.

The controversial journalist has been critical of Israel, and the UK and US’ relationship with Tel Aviv and slammed their labelling of groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah as “terrorists”. Some media reports have suggested he has voiced support for Hamas.

Under UK laws anybody calling for support for Hamas can be jailed for up to 14 years. It is proscribed as a terrorist group.

“Those of us who, like myself, are speaking up and reporting on the situation in Palestine are being targeted,” said Medhurst.

Now free on bail, Medhurst has had to curtail what he can say about the incident.

Medhurst said on X that he is unable to speak freely or do his job as a journalist: “I thought I’d seen it all in court with Julian (Assange) but this is really something. Behold our ‘freedom of the press.’”

He is not the first British journalist to be arrested for similar reasons.

Kit Klarenberg, who works for the Grayzone media outlet, was detained in May 2023 at Heathrow under counter-terrorism laws, specifically the Border Security Act of 2019.

Former British diplomat, and journalist, Craig Murray was similarly arrested by counter-terrorism police at Glasgow Airport in October 2023. He had flown in from Iceland after attending a Palestine solidarity event and meeting with high-ranking representatives of the Assange Campaign to free the Wikileaks whistle-blower.

The former human rights campaigner said he was interrogated about his political beliefs and had his phone and laptop seized.

While activists and journalists challenging the system have paid a high price, journalists towing the line, and politicians supporting Israel, have been rewarded.

Suella Braverman was paid £28,000 – funded by the National Jewish Assembly (NJA), an organisation headed by Gary Mond – a known Zionist with a history of promoting anti-Muslim views – for a four-day solidarity trip to Israel in April.