1639 crimes and violations against the press in Palestine since the beginning of the war of extermination

167 journalists and media workers martyred, including 21 female journalists

357 journalists were injured by rockets, bullets, and attacks by the occupation and its settlers

125 journalists arrested, including 16 female journalists, and two are subject to "enforced disappearance"

73 media institutions destroyed by the occupation in Gaza and 15 closed in the West Bank

The head of the Journalists Syndicate, Nasser Abu Bakr, described the Israeli war on Palestinian journalists as a “war of extermination against the media, journalists and their institutions,” noting that more than 10% of Gaza’s journalists have been killed, and 100% of their media institutions have been destroyed since October 2023.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said that the Israeli occupation committed the largest and most horrific massacre against the press in the world throughout history during a year of the Israeli war of extermination against our Palestinian people.

The Syndicate demanded the issuance of clear decisions by the United Nations and the UN Security Council calling on the Israeli occupation government to stop killing journalists, stressing that the International Court of Justice has a professional, moral and humanitarian responsibility to take action and take a series of decisions to protect Palestinian journalists.

She said: The reputation and professionalism of the International Criminal Court is at stake, and it has not yet considered the series of cases brought before it by the union regarding previous Israeli crimes, such as the assassination of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and some of our colleagues in the Gaza Strip who were martyred in previous years.

She also called on the International Federation of Journalists to continue its support and provide a trade union and human rights network in order to put more pressure on the International Criminal Court to try the political and security leaders of the occupation and settlers, so that they do not escape punishment for their crimes.

She stressed the need for the Arab Journalists Union to lead a movement that includes Arab parliaments, the Arab League, unions and human rights institutions to support Palestinian journalists in practicing their profession and exposing the crimes of the occupation.

It also called for activating the Palestinian national mechanism to prevent impunity to continue providing protection for journalists at the Palestinian level in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, departments of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian Bar Association, the Union of Writers and Authors, the Independent Commission, the Haq Foundation, and all relevant sectors.

The local and Arab media demanded that press coverage of the occupation’s crimes against journalists should show their suffering and that of their families in a clear humane way, rather than being mere numbers. The Journalists’ Syndicate also stressed on all crews working in the media sector to maintain a state of commitment to professional safety standards to preserve their lives, as well as to adhere to all ethical standards for the quality of sound news reporting.

Journalists Syndicate Report on the First Anniversary of the Genocide

The Syndicate said in its report on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Israeli war of extermination on October 7, 2023, issued by the Freedoms Committee, "The occupation committed 1,639 crimes against journalists and media institutions, especially in the Gaza Strip, including the martyrdom of 167 journalists and workers in the media sector."

According to the monitoring and follow-up of the Freedoms Committee in the Syndicate, the occupation has killed 167 journalists and workers in the Palestinian media sector since October 7, 2023, including 21 female journalists and one male journalist in the West Bank governorates, Ibrahim Mahameed from Nour Shams Camp in Tulkarm. These figures indicate that the occupation has killed 11% of Gaza journalists.

The Syndicate said that the Knights of Truth, fellow journalists, paid the price for the message of truth and conveying it to the world, and that the Israeli occupation carried out the largest assassination massacre against them to bury the truth and its witnesses.

The union pointed out that a number of colleagues were martyred and their bodies remained with their families under the rubble of their homes for months, as happened with colleagues Hiba Al-Abdallah (who is still under the rubble to this day), Salam Meema, and Ayat Khadura.

The Syndicate's report revealed 357 cases of injury among journalists during the year of the war of extermination, due to the occupation's missiles and direct bullets, in addition to toxic gas bombs and settler attacks.

The Syndicate explained that 101 injuries were caused by the occupation targeting journalists with missiles and bullets, the last of whom was fellow journalist Ahmed Al-Zard (photographer of Al-Kofiya Channel), who was seriously injured, along with his mother, and his brother and a number of his family members were martyred as a result of an Israeli bombardment that targeted their home in Khan Yunis.

The report added: "A number of journalists sustained serious injuries that led to the amputation of their feet, such as our colleague Sami Shehadeh, whose right foot was amputated by the occupation's bombing of him while he was covering the displacement movement in the Nuseirat camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip, in addition to injuries among journalists in deadly places, which indicates the desire to kill on the part of the occupation army."

The right leg of Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Abu Omar was amputated during a bombing in the Miraj area north of Rafah city, and his left leg was seriously injured. The same was true for photojournalist Abdullah Al-Hajj while covering the news in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza, which led to the amputation of one of his legs. The photographer Mohammed Al-Zaanin was injured in his left eye after being targeted by a drone that dropped explosive bombs on him near Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.

The union indicated that the remaining injuries were distributed between 21 direct injuries from gas and sound bombs, 26 attacks by settlers, and 121 injuries from suffocation from toxic gas.

The Israeli occupation arrested 125 journalists

The Syndicate's data indicated that the occupation authorities have arrested 125 journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since October of last year, 61 of whom are still in occupation prisons.

The Syndicate said that 16 Palestinian female journalists were arrested by the occupation, 6 of whom are still under arrest. The occupation also denied the entry of journalist Siqal Qaddum (51 years old) from Hebron, who works for Palestine TV, to the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Abu Salem crossing.

The Syndicate noted that 33 journalists were subjected to what is called "administrative detention", and that the occupation courts exploited the so-called Israeli emergency law and accused some imprisoned journalists of incitement through the media.

And social media platforms such as colleague Rasha Harzallah (editor at Wafa Agency) and colleague journalist Ali Dar Ali, correspondent for Palestine TV.

Since October 7, 2023, journalists Nidal Al-Wahidi (works with Al-Najah TV and New Press platform) and Haitham Abdul Wahid (Ain Media Foundation) have been forcibly disappeared, and the occupation refuses to release any information about their fate or respond to all international and human rights efforts to find out their circumstances.

According to the union, the testimonies of the released journalists and their lawyers, which were documented by the union, speak of their exposure to unprecedented torture in history.

“The testimonies from detained male and female journalists are horrifying,” Abu Bakr said. “They talk about beatings with sharp objects, prolonged suspension, forced stripping, sexual harassment of both men and women, and death threats. It is slow torture that takes place over hours, days, and sometimes months. These are the conditions experienced by more than a hundred journalists who are supposed to be protected by international law while trying to do their job.”

“The protection of journalists is guaranteed under international humanitarian law, international human rights law, the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Journalists are considered civilians and are entitled to the same protection as the civilian population. Therefore, their arrest, torture and killing because of their professional work constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and may constitute war crimes,” Abu Bakr added.

Punishing journalists for performing their professional role

The Journalists Syndicate said: “From the statements that the Syndicate obtained from journalists, they agreed that the occupation’s policy aims to punish them for their professional role and create a state of fear and intimidation among all journalists so that they stop performing their role and professional work.

The occupying state disregards all international agreements and treaties, especially those related to the protection of journalists, despite being a party to them, including Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Journalists see all this systematic targeting as creating a hostile environment for the profession of journalism and journalists, adopted by the occupying state, as happens daily in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the territories of 1948, which makes the profession of Palestinian journalism a major challenge. However, Palestinian journalists cover the situation courageously.

She considered that "the prevention of freedom of the press by the Israeli occupation using military methods also constitutes a challenge to the values and principles of freedom of the press, opinion and expression, and to the foundations of a free press, and a challenge to international law and international bodies authorized to implement and prevent the perpetrators of these crimes from escaping punishment."

Total destruction of media institutions in Gaza and closures in the West Bank

The Israeli occupation destroyed 73 media institutions in the Gaza Strip, according to documentation by the Freedoms Committee in the Syndicate, including 21 local radio stations, 3 broadcast towers, 15 news agencies, 15 satellite channels, 6 local newspapers, and 13 media and press services offices.

The occupation also closed 15 institutions in the West Bank, most notably Palestine TV in Jerusalem, and Al-Mayadeen and Al-Jazeera channels, in addition to closing 12 press printing presses in various governorates of the West Bank.

514 martyrs from the families of journalists in Gaza

Journalists’ families paid a heavy price as a result of their sons’ profession, as figures from the Syndicate’s Freedoms Committee indicate that 514 members of journalists’ families were killed in Gaza as a result of missile attacks on journalists’ homes and places of displacement.

The report added that the Israeli occupation targeted about 115 homes of Palestinian journalists’ families in the Gaza Strip with aircraft missiles and artillery shells. The families of a number of journalists were completely erased from the civil records of the population, such as Al-Quds Channel journalist Hussam Al-Dabaka, after his apartment was targeted and his wife, children and a number of other family members were killed in Al-Maghazi camp, Palestine TV correspondent Mohammed Abu Hatab and 11 of his family members, including his wife, children and brother, and journalist Salam Meema, her husband and three children Hadi, Ali and Sham, in the bombing of their home in Jabalia camp.

The most widespread attack in the West Bank since the beginning of the war of extermination was the direct shooting at press crews, as 198 members of press crews were monitored and were exposed to these dangerous incidents, most of which were in Jenin and Tulkarm, which put their lives in danger of death.

For example, the last quarter of 2023 saw 26 incidents in this regard, while the third quarter of this year saw 106. Many colleagues were harmed by these attacks, as were their equipment (cameras and vehicles).

Settler terrorism with government legitimacy

About 26 journalists were subjected to brutal attacks by settlers in the West Bank, and on many occasions this happened in the presence of the occupation police and army, without their intervention to protect the journalists and without any of them being held accountable by any party.

Examples of these incidents include brandishing weapons and threatening to kill, as happened with Palestine Post Agency correspondent Shurooq Issa, who was threatened with death after an Israeli settler brandished his rifle at her while she was covering events in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. Beating and smashing with the intent to kill also happened with Al Jazeera English cameraman and photojournalist Joseph Handal, who was assaulted by a group of settlers while passing through the “Container” checkpoint east of Bethlehem. They attacked him physically and smashed his car with stones and sticks, and sprayed him with pepper spray in the face, causing him injuries and fractures.

In Jerusalem, a large group of settlers were attacked and burned, such as what happened to the Al-Asima website correspondent, Saif Al-Qawasmi, who suffered burns to his hand as a result of settlers deliberately putting out cigarettes on his hands. Also, the Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper correspondent, Diala Juwayhan, was attacked and beaten, as well as her colleague, journalist Malak Arouq, and Al-Arabiya channel correspondent, Bara’a Abu Ramouz, and a large group of their colleagues.

The report stated that 152 journalists were injured by gas bombs, 140 of whom were injured by inhaling toxic gas and 19 of whom were injured by gas bombs hitting the journalists’ bodies, as happened with journalist Sidqi Rayyan, who was injured by a gas bomb in the head after the occupation targeted journalists in Jabal Sabih, where the “Avitar” settlement outpost is located in the town of Beita, Nablus. The same happened with Reuters photographer Raneen Sawafta, who was injured by a gas bomb in the face and was transferred to the hospital in Jenin after the occupation forces fired gas bombs at journalists.

A flood of crimes preventing crews from working

The Freedoms Committee report stated that there were 396 cases of detention of individuals and press crews, preventing them from working, and pursuing them with verbal threats and threats of shooting and arrest in the event of non-compliance, with a clear escalation in cases of prevention, even with pursuit and attempts to run them over with heavy bulldozers and military vehicles.

For example, on the road near the city of Tubas, an Israeli military jeep hit the car of journalists Majdi Ashtiyeh and Ali Ashtiyeh while they were covering the news in the “Tayasir” area near the city of Tubas. Military vehicles also tried to run over Al Jazeera correspondent Guevara Al-Badri, photographer Aref Tuffaha, Palestine TV correspondent Amir Shaheen, and a group of journalists.

A number of journalists were also subjected to an attempted run-over by an Israeli military bulldozer while covering the demolition of streets in the city of Jenin. Al-Arabiya TV correspondent Ameed Shehadeh, Al-Ghad TV correspondent Diaa Hoshiya, Roya TV correspondent Hafez Abu Sabra, and Al-Quds newspaper correspondent Ali Samoudi were among those who were at their home.

Other forms of crime and assault

The Israeli occupation uses many methods to persecute, harass and target journalists, such as travel bans, confiscation of personal and professional belongings, summons for investigation, unfair military courts, financial fines, threats, incitement and house arrest.

The submission of the Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in the occupation system, and its collusion with the Israeli occupation government and army reflects the rejection of the Foreign Journalists Association’s request to allow them to enter to work and cover the Gaza Strip.