More than a dozen Palestinian journalists have been detained in Israeli prisons since the start of the Gaza war on October 7.
Israel became one of the top countries imprisoning journalists in 2023, according to a report by the press freedom watchdog, as the number of journalists behind bars exploded after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
In its annual snapshot of imprisoned journalists released Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that Israel was the sixth largest country imprisoning journalists in 2023, alongside Iran.
As of December 1, 17 Palestinian journalists were detained in Israeli prisons, CPJ reported. For comparison, the year before, a Palestinian journalist was detained in an Israeli prison, according to the New York-based nonprofit.
“Israel has appeared several times in CPJ’s annual census, but this is the highest number of arrests of Palestinian journalists since CPJ began documenting arrests in 1992 and the first time Israel has ranked among the top six offenders,” the report reads.
All those detained in Israeli prisons were held in the occupied West Bank after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, when Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, according to an Tel Aviv Tribune count. based on official statistics. Around 240 other people were captured, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel responded with a devastating bombing and ground offensive on Gaza. More than 24,600 people were killed in the Israeli attack, according to Palestinian officials.
In the more than three months since the war in Gaza began, violence has spiked in West Bank cities, with Israeli forces carrying out near-daily raids and mass arrests.
According to the new report, most of the arrested journalists were placed in administrative detention – a practice in which Israeli authorities hold detainees without charge or trial for up to six months. Detention can be extended on the basis of “secret evidence” that neither detainees nor their lawyers are allowed to see.
Due to the lack of information on the reasons for the imprisonment, CPJ said it was difficult to establish why the 17 journalists were arrested. Several journalists’ families said they believed they had been imprisoned for social media posts, according to the report.
CPJ’s list is a snapshot of people incarcerated on December 1 and does not include those imprisoned or released throughout the year. As of January 17, at least 19 journalists remained in prison, CPJ reported.
The war in Gaza has also been marked by an increase in the number of journalists killed in the region. As of mid-January, 83 journalists had been killed since the start of the conflict. At least 67 were Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese, according to CPJ.
Since the start of 2024, the committee has recorded that at least six journalists have been killed, including Hamza Dahdouh, the eldest son of Tel Aviv Tribune Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh. He is the fourth member of Dahdouh’s immediate family to be killed during the war.
Hundreds of prisoners around the world
The report found that 320 journalists were in prison worldwide as of December 1 of last year, the second highest number recorded since the committee began documenting arrests in 1992. The total marks a drop from the record world of 2022, when more than 360 journalists were imprisoned. behind bars.
This represents “a worrying barometer of the entrenched authoritarianism and vitriol of governments determined to stifle independent voices,” the report reads.
“Some governments go further, using transnational repression to threaten and harass journalists beyond their own borders,” he adds.
China is the most guilty country, with 44 journalists imprisoned, followed by Myanmar (43) and Belarus (28).
More than 65 percent of those identified are accused of spreading false information and “terrorism in retaliation for their critical coverage.”
In 66 cases, those detained have not yet been informed of the charges against them, the report reads.
