This is the latest installment of our press freedom round-up, recapping the latest attacks on journalists, their right to publish, and our right to know. Here’s the news for the week of October 5, 2024.
Israel detains US journalist reporting on damage to its military bases
Israel has detained American Grayzone journalist Jeremy Loffredo while he was on assignment in Israel. He’s reportedly charged with aiding and providing information to the enemy, apparently for his reporting on Iranian strikes.
According to social media reports, Loffredo was detained along with four other journalists who were “beaten, blindfolded, and taken to an Israeli military base.” They also had their phones confiscated. Loffredo remains in custody, while the others, were released 11 hours later.
Update, via The Intercept on October 11: “Although an Israeli judge granted his release from police custody, [Loffredo] was ordered to remain in the country until October 20.”
Israel targets Palestinian journalists killing one and wounding three
According to DropSite News Palestinian journalist Mohammed Tanani has been killed by Israeli forces while reporting on the ground assault of Jabalia camp. Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi Al-Wahidi was shot in the neck by Israeli sniper and paralyzed for life, while journalist Tamer Lobad was also wounded.
In a separate incident, Ali Al-Attar, a 26-year-old cameraman for Al Jazeera, was severely injured during an Israeli military attack in Deir al-Balah.
A crackdown on US photo and video journalists
US Press Freedom Tracker, a nonpartisan database of press freedom violations, shows that the police is increasingly arresting members of the press at protests, especially those with cameras.
Some of the visual journalists who cover demonstrations across US have dealt with charges well after a protest ended—an unusual recent phenomenon. The Tracker has also logged a more than 50 percent increase over the past year in journalist assaults, the vast majority of them at Gaza-related protests, half—the largest portion—from law enforcement.
Gaza journalist Hassan Hamad killed by artillery fire after threats from Israeli officer
Democracy Now reported that an Israeli artillery shell struck the home of 19-year-old journalist Hassan Hamad in Jabaliya, killing him. In recent weeks Hamad had received death threats via WhatsApp from an Israeli number; he also received phone calls and text messages from an Israeli officer ordering him to stop filming.
Israel responsible for record journalist death toll, says CPJ
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a report documenting a year of Israel’s war in Gaza which has exacted an unprecedented and horrific toll on Palestinian journalists and the region’s media landscape.
“The killings, along with censorship, arrests, the continued ban on independent media access into Gaza, persistent internet shutdowns, the destruction of media outlets, and displacement of the Gaza media community, have severely restricted reporting on the war and hampered documentation.”
RSF: Israeli forces have methodically destroyed the Palestinian territory’s media infrastructure and stifled journalism
Since the start of the war in Gaza, “the right to information about what is happening in the Palestinian enclave has continued eroding with each passing day as the Israeli army’s media blackout continues”, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). More than 130 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, with at least 32 of them targeted and killed while working.