LONDON: Recent incidents involving attacks on the media have heightened concerns about press freedom and journalist safety in the Arab world.
Separate assaults on an MTV crew in Lebanon by Hezbollah members and accusations by the Israeli Defense Forces against a journalist killed in Gaza underscore the growing threats faced by journalists in the region.
On Thursday evening, the IDF confirmed that it had killed Al-Jazeera journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul in an airstrike in Gaza, alongside cameraman Ramy El Rify, claiming Al-Ghoul was a Hamas operative involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Al-Jazeera dismissed these allegations as “baseless,” asserting they were attempts to justify the deliberate killing of its journalists.
Earlier this week, MTV reporter Nawal Berry and cameraman Dany Tanios revealed in an interview that they were assaulted and had their equipment broken by four men while attempting to cover the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a south Beirut suburb, which killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr.
Both incidents have been widely condemned by human rights organizations and press freedom advocates, reigniting discussions around press safety in the region during such a critical juncture.
“All violations to journalists’ freedom in covering news, especially life saving information during wars, are not acceptable,” Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, told Arab News. “All parties should respect journalists and allow them to do their jobs freely at all times, in peace and wartime the same.”
Al Jazeera, in its statement, refuted the Israeli accusations that Al-Ghoul was a member of the elite Nukhba unit who participated in the Oct. 7 attack and instructed Hamas operatives on how to record operations, dismissing them as an attempt to justify the deliberate killing of its journalists.
HIGHLIGHTS
• On Thursday evening, the IDF confirmed that it had killed Al-Jazeera journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul in an airstrike in Gaza, alongside cameraman Ramy El Rify, claiming Al-Ghoul was a Hamas operative involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
• Earlier this week, MTV reporter Nawal Berry and cameraman Dany Tanios revealed in an interview that they were assaulted and had their equipment broken by four men while attempting to cover the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a south Beirut suburb.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that at least 113 journalists and media workers have been among the more than 39,000 killed, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
Of these, 108 were Palestinian, two Israeli, and three Lebanese.
While attacks on the press by Israel, particularly targeting Al Jazeera, have been documented well before the conflict began, the recent incident involving Hezbollah members attacking the MTV crew has taken many by surprise.
Despite Hezbollah supporters having a history of assaulting and threatening journalists, the violence against the MTV crew highlights the escalating dangers faced by the media.
Tanios, in his interview, recounted that he and his colleague were assaulted when a few men saw the MTV logo on his camera.
“They asked what we were covering, and I told them we’re here to cover the event that took place here,” he said.
“I told them we’re your siblings; we’re here to support you, we’re not against you,” adding that if some people “have a problem with MTV,” the journalists working for the channel should not pay the price.
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