Israel killed 8 Palestinian journalists, committed 467 media violations in 1st half of 2026: Press union

Israel killed eight Palestinian journalists and committed 467 violations against media workers in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the first half of 2026, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said Monday, Anadolu reports.

The findings were presented by Mohammed al-Lahham, head of the syndicate’s Freedoms Committee, during a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah on media freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Lahham said the report documented “467 crimes and violations” committed by the Israeli army and occupiers against journalists and other media workers between January and June.

More than 41% of the violations involved preventing media coverage or detaining press crews, with 192 cases recorded, he said, describing the incidents as reflecting “a systematic policy aimed at obscuring the media landscape in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

The report documented the killing of eight journalists during the six-month period, bringing the number of Palestinian journalists killed by Israel since Oct. 8, 2023, to 264.

It also recorded 27 arrests, 29 incidents of live fire targeting journalists, 78 cases involving tear gas or stun grenades, 14 physical assaults, two gunshot injuries and 16 threats involving weapons.

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Six attacks were carried out by Israeli occupiers, according to the report.

Israeli forces also barred 19 journalists from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and seized or damaged media equipment in 22 cases.

The report further documented Israeli raids on seven homes and media organizations, the closure of three media institutions and the blocking of five websites.

February saw the highest number of violations, with 122 cases, followed by January with 109 and June with 89. The syndicate recorded 53 violations in March, 39 in April and 55 in May.

Around 4,127 violations against Palestinian journalists were documented between October 2023 and the end of June 2026, including the arrest of 193 journalists and the destruction of 187 media institutions and 140 journalists’ homes, the report said.

It added that 713 relatives of journalists were also killed during the same period.

Syndicate chief Nasser Abu Bakr said the organization was continuing legal action against Israel over violations against journalists before international bodies.

He said the syndicate had presented evidence of violations and extrajudicial killings of Palestinian journalists at a conference held at the UN headquarters in Geneva under the auspices of the International Federation of Journalists and attended by UN special rapporteurs.

Abu Bakr added that France’s national union of journalists had informed its Palestinian counterpart that it intended to file a lawsuit with French courts over war crimes against journalists.

He urged the International Criminal Court to accelerate its investigations into “crimes” committed against Palestinian journalists and disclose the measures taken against those responsible.

“The targeting of journalists is not a series of isolated incidents, but part of an aggression targeting the right to knowledge and the transmission of truth,” he said.

Since Oct. 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 173,000 others, according to Palestinian figures.

​​​​​​​In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces and occupiers have killed at least 1,181 Palestinians, injured around 13,000 and arrested nearly 24,000 during the same period, according to official Palestinian data.

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