Union reports 108 attacks on Palestinian journalists in July

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has documented 108 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinian journalists and media workers in the occupied West Bank last month.

The syndicate’s Freedoms Committee said in a statement on Sunday that the violations ranged from detention and beating to interrogation, obstruction of coverage and the seizure or destruction of press equipment, describing a pattern that has made it increasingly difficult for journalists to document Israeli military raids and settler violence on the ground.

Brief detentions and restrictions on reporting were the most common violations, with 58 cases recorded.

The committee also documented 11 settler attacks on journalists, including physical assaults, shoving and threats, mostly while crews covered settler attacks and military raids elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, along with 12 cases in which Israeli forces fired stun grenades or tear gas at journalists, causing some to suffocate.

Six journalists were beaten, and four sustained bleeding injuries while covering developments in Gaza, including from shrapnel. Two others were detained and four interrogated about their reporting.

The committee recorded four raids on journalists’ homes or media offices, including the closure of one outlet, three cases of equipment being confiscated or destroyed, two instances of deleted footage, and two expulsions of journalists from the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The syndicate called for journalists to be allowed to work “free from threats, attacks and pursuit”, and demanded accountability for those responsible.

The July toll adds to a surging record already considered the deadliest in history for journalists.

Rights groups have documented that Israeli attacks have killed more than 270 journalists amid a sweeping campaign of arbitrary press detentions since October 2023.

Al Jazeera has confirmed that 12 of its own journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s campaign in 2023, more than any other media outlet.