The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate has documented 57 violations and attacks committed by Israeli occupation forces and settlers against Palestinian journalists during the month of November, reflecting a continuing systematic policy aimed at silencing journalists and obstructing coverage of events on the ground.
In its published report, the Syndicate confirmed that the attacks show a clear pattern of escalation, with settlers playing a central role in carrying out a large number of assaults against journalists — often with direct field complicity from Israeli occupation forces.
The documented violations included two injuries caused by live ammunition, as well as 22 settler-led assaults, which involved beatings, chases, stone-throwing, and brandishing weapons at media workers. The report also recorded 16 cases of detaining journalists or media crews and preventing them from working, in addition to six direct physical assaults by occupation soldiers and settlers during news coverage. Settlers also attacked journalists’ vehicles by smashing or seizing them, particularly in the city of Hebron.
These attacks constitute a clear violation of international humanitarian law, which obliges the occupying power to ensure the protection of media workers and prohibits targeting them. The Geneva Conventions and UN resolutions stipulate that journalists must be able to carry out their work without threat or obstruction, as they are civilians entitled to special protection during hostilities.
The complicity of Israeli occupation forces in settler attacks represents an additional breach, as international law places responsibility on the occupying power to prevent assaults by groups under its control, not to enable or allow them to occur.
These violations come amid the ongoing genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation against Gaza since 7 October 2023, now in its second year, alongside escalating attacks in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem. During this same period, more than 1,088 Palestinians have been killed, nearly 11,000 injured, and over 21,000 detained.
These facts underscore the urgent need for international action to stop the targeting of Palestinian journalists and to impose clear obligations on the occupying power to respect international humanitarian law. They also highlight the necessity of establishing an independent international protection mechanism for journalists working in conflict zones, and of ensuring meaningful accountability for documented violations — as impunity only encourages continued and increasingly dangerous attacks.
