Israel second highest jailer of journalists, report finds

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Israel was the second highest jailer of journalists in 2024, according to a annual report from the press freedom organisation, Committee to Protect Journalists. 

Israel has detained 43 journalists, whilst China has detained 50 and Myanmar has detained 35. Belarus and Russia respectively came fourth and fifth place, the New Arab reports. At the time of the CPJ’s census, Russia detained 30 journalists, whilst Belarus held 31

The committee said that although Israel was barely seen in its top list of jailers, after its war on Gaza, detentions have increased two-fold, as it has tried to stop coverage of the war. The CPJ says the arrests are at their highest level since the organisation began its documentation process. 

Israel has arrested 75 journalists in Palestine, with 43 being in Israeli custody on December 1st 2024. 

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At least 10 journalists have been kept in the occupied West Bank, reportedly under “administrative detention”, in which the army is able to detain someone without charge for 90 days, which can be prolonged at a limitless number of times. 

Journalists are also held under the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants law, which also permits Israeli forces to keep detainees for extensive periods without charges, and with restricted access to legal support.

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CPJ also mentioned Israeli human rights group,  B’Tselem’s findings on how Palestinian prisoners are being treated in Israeli prisons. The prisoners faced violence, sexual assualt, degredation, humiliation and intentional starvation. 

In the report, CPJ said: “The journalists’ detentions are symptomatic of Israel’s broader effort to prevent coverage of its actions in Gaza.”

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Journalists had also been arrested by Israeli police because they had interviewed or reached out to people that Israel wanted information about, lawyers had told the CPJ.

The CPJ also underscored how foreign correspondents are stopped from going to Palestine. The report also mentions the country’s prohibition of Al Jazeera operating in Israel and the occupied West Bank, due to it how it covered the genocide. 

The annual report also said that at least 166 journalists and people who work in the media were killed in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Israel and Lebanon, since Israel started its military attack. 

Egypt was found to be the sixth highest jailer, with 17 journalists imprisoned. Seven of these were detained last year as the country’s economic issues prompted further arrests of journalists. At least two of the prisoners have been critical of the government’s economic policies. The two being, cartoonist Ashraf Omar and economic commentator Abdel Khaleq Farouk. 

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The Israeli military brought new restrictions on the press coverage of soldiers who are on active combat duty, due to possible legal action against reservists who are travelling abroad over allegations of participating in war crimes in Gaza, The New Arab and agencies reported on January 9th.

The new restrictions were introduced after an Israeli reservist who was taking a vacation away in Brazil, left the country when a Brazilian judge told federal police to launch an investigation. The investigation started, following accusations being made by a pro-Palestinian group that he had carried out war crimes while serving in Gaza.

The New Arab, CPJ

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