Six months of the Israel-Gaza war

Sunday, April 7, marks six months since the Israel-Gaza war began. Since October 7, 2023, CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) has documented the killings of 90 Palestinian, two Israeli, and three Lebanese journalists and media workers—95 in total. We have recorded 25 journalists arrested, 16 journalists injured and four journalists missing. We have also reported on the attacks, arrests, threats, cyberattacks, censorship, and killings of journalists’ family members.

Diaa Al-Kahlout, the veteran Gaza bureau chief for the Qatari-funded, London-based newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, had been covering the Israel-Gaza war for two months when he became a part of the news. On December 7, Al-Kahlout was detained with members of his family by Israeli forces in a mass arrest in Beit Lahya in northern Gaza.

Al-Kahlout is one of more than two dozen Palestinian journalists arrested by Israel since it launched a widespread bombardment of Gaza following the October 7 Hamas raid on Israel. In a new Q&A published today, Al-Kahlout told CPJ how, over 33 days in Israeli custody, he was interrogated about his journalism and subjected to physical and psychological mistreatment.

“The truth is, that the outside world sees only 1% of the reality in Gaza, and what we [journalists] see is unimaginable,” Al-Kahlout told CPJ, and goes on in the interview to detail his experience covering the war, his detention, and the journalism environment in Gaza.

Read more in CPJ’s new feature article.

Other press freedom developments related to the Israel-Gaza war this week:

• CPJ calls on Netanyahu’s government not to shut down Al-Jazeera in Israel.
• CPJ and 41 other media freedom organizations write to Media Freedom Coalition member states to act on Gaza.
• CPJ and partners urge UN leaders to release their full report on journalist Issam Abdallah’s murder.

Disinformation and incitement campaigns target Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi.

CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists)