Middle East & North Africa

Washington, D.C., January 2, 2025—The Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced on Saturday, December 28, 2024, the execution of 11 individuals, including Yemeni journalist Mohamed Al-Maqri, whom they accused of spying and abducted in 2015. “The killing of Mohamed Al-Maqri highlights the extreme dangers Yemeni journalists face while reporting from one of the world’s…

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a decision by the Palestinian Authority to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations in the West Bank. “Governments resort to censoring news outlets when they have something to hide,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “The Palestinian Authority should reverse its decision to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations and allow journalists to report freely without fear…

Editor’s note: Cecilia Sala was freed on January 8, 2025. Press freedom organizations and the organizers of the International Journalism Festival (IJF) called on Iran on Tuesday to release Italian journalist Cecilia Sala with immediate effect. Sala was arrested in Iran on December 19 and is being held in the notorious Evin prison. Iran confirmed…

Editor’s note: Cecilia Sala was freed on January 8, 2025. New York, December 28 2024—CPJ is deeply concerned by the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran. Italy’s foreign ministry said Sala was arrested on December 19 and was being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, although news of her arrest was only made public on…

Beirut, December 26, 2024—Israeli forces killed five journalists and media workers with Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, a channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group, in a Thursday strike on their vehicle outside Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. The Associated Press reported that footage showed the van had visible press markings. “CPJ denounces Israel’s killing…

Sulaymaniyah, December 20, 2024 —The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the killing of journalists Jihan Belkin and Nazim Dashdan in northern Syria in a suspected Turkish drone attack on their vehicle and calls for an investigation into whether they were targeted for their work. “Journalists are civilians and must be protected at all…

Beirut, December 16, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly denounces the killings of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza during the past week and calls for the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks against the media. “At least 95 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide in 2024,” CPJ’s CEO…

New York, December 12, 2024—On Monday, December 8, soldiers with the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed journalist Hanan Adam, a correspondent for local Sudanese Communist Party-affiliated newspaper al-Midan, and her brother, Youssef Adam, at their home in the village of Wad Al-Asha in the east-central al-Gezira state, according to statements by the Sudanese…

As Syria transitions to a new government following the December 8 toppling of Bashar al-Assad, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to take decisive action to ensure the safety of all journalists and hold accountable those responsible for the killing, imprisonment, and silencing of members of the media during the country’s 13-year civil…

Washington, D.C., December 9, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to immediately release journalist Sayed Saber, who was arrested on November 26 and ordered by the Supreme State Security Prosecution the following day to serve 15 days in detention pending investigation.   “The arrest of journalist Sayed Saber is the latest example…