Hosni Nedim
03 May 2026•Update: 03 May 2026
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said Sunday it had recorded about 300 violations and attacks against Palestinian journalists since the start of 2026, amid escalating targeting of media workers.
The announcement came during a rally organized by the syndicate outside its headquarters in the city of al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank, marking World Press Freedom Day and protesting continued attacks on journalists.
Participants raised banners demanding an end to the killing of media workers and accountability for Israel.
“Activities organized on World Press Freedom Day aim to highlight the exceptional and unprecedented conditions under which the Palestinian journalist operates," Omar Nazzal, the deputy head of the syndicate, addressed the crowd.
Journalists are facing “the fiercest Israeli war machine,” he added, noting that more than 4,000 violations have been recorded against them since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
“The number of journalists killed has reached 262 male and female journalists since that date, including 261 in the Gaza Strip, in addition to six journalists killed since the beginning of 2026,” said Mohammad al-Lahham, head of the syndicate’s freedoms committee.
He added that the current year has also seen 10 direct injuries, 22 arrests, 120 cases of detention or prevention from coverage, and 12 attacks carried out by Israeli occupiers.
Lahham said total violations since October 2023 reached 3,983, including 1,072 in 2023, 1,325 in 2024, 1,286 in 2025, and 300 in 2026.
These violations included 240 cases of direct gunfire at media crews and 352 cases involving tear gas and stun grenades, as well as beatings, confiscation of equipment, and travel bans, he added.
The syndicate said in a report read at the event that it had documented 188 arrests since October 2023, along with the destruction of 187 media institutions and offices and 140 homes belonging to journalists.
The syndicate reported the killing of 713 family members of journalists, indicating that the targeting extended beyond media workers to their social environment.
The syndicate said the targeting of journalists “is not individual behavior" but part of a “systematic policy” aimed at restricting journalism and silencing the Palestinian narrative, particularly amid field coverage of events.
It called on the UN and international organizations to provide urgent protection for Palestinian journalists, open independent investigations into violations, and ensure accountability.
The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza began on Oct. 8, 2023, and has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded over 172,000, according to Palestinian figures.
Despite a ceasefire in effect since October 2025, Israel continues daily strikes and a blockade that has killed hundreds more and worsened humanitarian conditions in the enclave, home to about 2.4 million Palestinians, including 1.5 million displaced.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul
