The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has released a chilling new report confirming that the Israeli occupation continues to target Palestinian journalists with deadly and systematic attacks across the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

According to data compiled by the Syndicate’s Freedoms Committee, the month of May alone saw 137 documented violations against Palestinian journalists and media outlets. These include the killing of 12 journalists, the injury of at least nine others, the destruction of four media offices, and the forced displacement of more than 350 journalists from Gaza.

The report highlights that Israeli occupation forces forcibly displaced approximately 250 journalists from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, and another 100 from northern Gaza, putting their lives at risk amid ongoing bombardments. Many have lost their homes, equipment, and access to their work, with journalism effectively criminalized under siege conditions.

A missile strike in May destroyed a building in Gaza housing four satellite news channels, delivering a significant blow to local and regional media coverage. The Syndicate warns that this destruction represents a deliberate targeting of press infrastructure to silence coverage of the genocide unfolding in Gaza.

In the occupied West Bank, journalists have faced escalating assaults from both Israeli soldiers and settlers. The report recorded 14 incidents of violent beatings, several of which resulted in hospitalization. In addition, there were 64 cases of media crews being detained or obstructed, 15 incidents of journalists suffering from tear gas inhalation, five cases of live fire intimidation, and four attempted vehicular assaults targeting press workers.

The repression also includes judicial and administrative harassment: three arrests, four cases brought before military courts, two formal summonses, and three demolitions of journalists’ homes in Gaza.

The Syndicate emphasized that these are not isolated incidents but part of a coordinated and ongoing campaign to suppress Palestinian journalism and block the global transmission of Israel’s war crimes.

By the time of the report’s release, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has documented the killing of 226 journalists and media workers since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza. Many of those killed were deliberately targeted while wearing press vests and performing their professional duties.

The Syndicate reaffirmed its commitment to working with international legal bodies, press freedom organizations, and human rights institutions to hold the Israeli occupation accountable. It is calling for urgent international measures to protect journalists in conflict zones and for the prosecution of those responsible for crimes against the press. (ILKHA)