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08-02-2024
GAZA CITY: Since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, journalists and media across the region have faced a hostile environment that has made reporting on the war exceptionally challenging.
In addition to documenting the growing tally of journalists killed and injured, CPJ’s research has found multiple kinds of incidents of journalists being targeted while carrying out their work in Israel and the two Palestinian territories, Gaza and the West Bank.
These include 25 arrests, as well as numerous assaults, threats, cyberattacks, and censorship. As of February 7, CPJ’s records showed that 19 of these journalists were still behind bars.
Several journalists have also lost family members while covering the war.
On November 13, eight family members of photojournalist Yasser Qudih were killed when their house in southern Gaza was struck by four missiles, according to Reuters and The Guardian. The incident occurred five days after a November 8 report by Honest Reporting, a group that monitors what it describes “ideological prejudice” in media coverage of Israel raised questions about Qudih and three other Gaza-based photographers having prior knowledge of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. Major media outlets, including Reuters, rejected the claims. Honest Reporting subsequently withdrew the accusations, but its report prompted the Israeli prime minister’s office to tweet that the photographers were accomplices in “crimes against humanity” and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz to say they should be treated as terrorists. Qudih survived the attack.
On October 25, Wael Al Dahdouh, Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief for Gaza, lost his wife, son, daughter, and grandson when an Israel airstrike hit the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of Gaza, according to a statement from Al-Jazeera and Politico. On January 7, the Al-Jazeera bureau chief lost a fifth family member. His son, Hamza Al Dahdouh, a journalist and camera operator for Al-Jazeera, was killed along with a colleague while on their way back to the southern city of Rafah after filming the aftermath of an airstrike when their vehicle was struck by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), multiple news reports said.
In Gaza, the risks are acute. Israel responded to Hamas’ surprise attack with airstrikes and a ground assault into Gaza, which is controlled by the militant Palestinian group.
CPJ is investigating reports that more than 50 offices in Gaza were damaged, leaving many journalists with no safe place to do their jobs, as they also contend with extensive power and communications outages, food and water shortages, and sometimes have to flee with their families. (Int’l News Desk)
