“The violence against journalists in Sweida — including injuries, intimidation, and the ransacking of media offices — along with the attack on a media outlet in Damascus, signals a dangerous escalation in threats to Syria’s press,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Authorities must investigate these incidents and ensure accountability. Journalists should not face violence or obstruction for doing their work.”

Fighting in Sweida governorate began on July 13, 2025, after a Druze merchant was assaulted by Bedouin tribesmen. The confrontation escalated into armed clashes between Druze groups and Bedouin fighters, drawing in Syrian government forces. Israeli airstrikes on July 15 and 16 followed in Sweida and Damascus, with Israel citing the protection of Druze communities. A U.S.-brokered truce temporarily halted fighting, but conditions on the ground remained unstable.

• On July 15, Nadim al-Nabulsi, a reporter for Ahrar Horan, a local media collective, sustained minor injuries while covering events in Sweida after an Israeli drone strike. “I was reporting near the entrance of the city, following a [Syrian government] General Security Forces vehicle on my motorcycle,” al-Nabulsi told CPJ. “The vehicle was hit by drone-dropped explosives. I was around 25 meters (82 feet) behind and tried to hide, but some shrapnel hit my lower back.” He said he was wearing a “Press” vest at the time.

• Also on July 15, freelance journalist Muhannad Abu Zaid was wounded during clashes. He said he was following a General Security Forces convoy into Sweida when gunfire broke out. “I took cover and started filming, but a sniper fired and hit my hand,” he told CPJ. “I think the bullet was meant for my chest, but a car shielded me.”

• On July 16, an Israeli airstrike In Damascus, targeting the Syrian army’s general staff headquarters damaged Al-Hadath TV’s office. According to a video posted by the channel on X, no one was injured.

• On July 19, four journalists wearing “Press” vests — freelance photographer Ali Haj Suleiman, a Getty Images contributor; photographer Bakr Alkasem, who contributes to Agence France-Presse; NoonPost reporter Hamza Abbas; and NoonPost camera operator Qusay Abdulbari — were beside their car in Sweida when it was struck by bullets. “We were covering events in Sweida, entering at the Omran roundabout,” Haj Suleiman told CPJ. “Druze armed factions appeared to counterattack, and gunfire came from three directions. We took cover behind our car as snipers and RPGs fired. After 10 minutes, the shooting stopped.”

• Also on July 19, Karam Nachar, editor-in-chief of the privately owned outlet Al-Jumhuriya, posted that one of the outlet’s journalists, who asked not to be named for his own safety, was robbed and threatened in his home in Sweida by what the journalist said “appeared to be newly recruited members of the ministry of defense.” CPJ spoke with the journalist and confirmed that he is now safe in Damascus. “The four gunmen took $1,600 in cash, my phone, and a camera worth around $2,000,” he said, adding that he managed to escape the raid after another journalist intervened.

CPJ contacted Mohammad Al-Saleh, the Syrian ministry of information’s spokesperson, via messaging app. He said authorities had not blocked journalists from working but warned them that Druze snipers were active in the area, and advised them to evacuate to avoid kidnapping or crossfire. Al-Saleh said the government holds its institutions accountable for any misconduct but currently lacks the means to pursue armed groups operating outside the law — “though that time will come.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Soran Rashid.

“The violence against journalists in Sweida — including injuries, intimidation, and the ransacking of media offices — along with the attack on a media outlet in Damascus, signals a dangerous escalation in threats to Syria’s press,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Authorities must investigate these incidents and ensure accountability. Journalists should not face violence or obstruction for doing their work.”

Fighting in Sweida governorate began on July 13, 2025, after a Druze merchant was assaulted by Bedouin tribesmen. The confrontation escalated into armed clashes between Druze groups and Bedouin fighters, drawing in Syrian government forces. Israeli airstrikes on July 15 and 16 followed in Sweida and Damascus, with Israel citing the protection of Druze communities. A U.S.-brokered truce temporarily halted fighting, but conditions on the ground remained unstable.

• On July 15, Nadim al-Nabulsi, a reporter for Ahrar Horan, a local media collective, sustained minor injuries while covering events in Sweida after an Israeli drone strike. “I was reporting near the entrance of the city, following a [Syrian government] General Security Forces vehicle on my motorcycle,” al-Nabulsi told CPJ. “The vehicle was hit by drone-dropped explosives. I was around 25 meters (82 feet) behind and tried to hide, but some shrapnel hit my lower back.” He said he was wearing a “Press” vest at the time.

• Also on July 15, freelance journalist Muhannad Abu Zaid was wounded during clashes. He said he was following a General Security Forces convoy into Sweida when gunfire broke out. “I took cover and started filming, but a sniper fired and hit my hand,” he told CPJ. “I think the bullet was meant for my chest, but a car shielded me.”

• On July 16, an Israeli airstrike In Damascus, targeting the Syrian army’s general staff headquarters damaged Al-Hadath TV’s office. According to a video posted by the channel on X, no one was injured.

• On July 19, four journalists wearing “Press” vests — freelance photographer Ali Haj Suleiman, a Getty Images contributor; photographer Bakr Alkasem, who contributes to Agence France-Presse; NoonPost reporter Hamza Abbas; and NoonPost camera operator Qusay Abdulbari — were beside their car in Sweida when it was struck by bullets. “We were covering events in Sweida, entering at the Omran roundabout,” Haj Suleiman told CPJ. “Druze armed factions appeared to counterattack, and gunfire came from three directions. We took cover behind our car as snipers and RPGs fired. After 10 minutes, the shooting stopped.”

• Also on July 19, Karam Nachar, editor-in-chief of the privately owned outlet Al-Jumhuriya, posted that one of the outlet’s journalists, who asked not to be named for his own safety, was robbed and threatened in his home in Sweida by what the journalist said “appeared to be newly recruited members of the ministry of defense.” CPJ spoke with the journalist and confirmed that he is now safe in Damascus. “The four gunmen took $1,600 in cash, my phone, and a camera worth around $2,000,” he said, adding that he managed to escape the raid after another journalist intervened.

CPJ contacted Mohammad Al-Saleh, the Syrian ministry of information’s spokesperson, via messaging app. He said authorities had not blocked journalists from working but warned them that Druze snipers were active in the area, and advised them to evacuate to avoid kidnapping or crossfire. Al-Saleh said the government holds its institutions accountable for any misconduct but currently lacks the means to pursue armed groups operating outside the law — “though that time will come.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Soran Rashid.

At about 3 a.m. on October 25, an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing 18 journalists from multiple media outlets in Hasbaya, a town in southern Lebanon. The strike killed pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen TV’s camera operator Ghassan Najjar, broadcast engineer Mohammed Reda, and Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV’s camera operator Wissam Kassem.

According to the BBC, the IDF said it struck a Hezbollah military structure in Hasbaya where “terrorists were operating.” The IDF said it received reports “several hours after the strike” that journalists had been hit, adding that “the incident is under review.” 

Lebanon filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council on Monday, October 28, over the strike. 

Israeli strikes have killed at least three additional journalists while on assignment and injured at least 11 in Lebanon since the Israel Defense Forces and Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah began exchanging fire in October 2023. Israel escalated tensions on October 1, 2024, when they launched a ground invasion into Lebanon. 

CPJ is investigating another five killings of journalists and media workers in Lebanon by Israel since September 23 to determine if they were killed in relation to their work. 

“Journalists are civilians, and the international community has an obligation to protect them by making it clear to Israel that their long-standing record of aggression and impunity in journalist killings will not be tolerated,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “International bodies must be given access to conduct independent investigations into these killings. Deadly attacks on journalists, who are protected under international humanitarian law, and obstructions to reporting must immediately stop.”

CPJ has documented the following obstructions to journalism in Lebanon since the September escalation: 

Israeli strikes on media facilities 

• Israeli forces bombed and destroyed the outlet offices of the Hezbollah-affiliated religious TV channel Al-Sirat in the southern district of the capital, Beirut, on September 30. No casualties were reported. 

• Israeli forces bombed a building in the southern city of Tyre on October 20, which housed the Hezbollah-linked financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hasan and local radio station Sawt Al Farah. Workers evacuated the building, and no casualties were reported in the destruction of the 34-year-old station — one of the oldest in south Lebanon. Reports said the station’s broadcast was stopped by the bombing. Sawt Al Farah’s website continues to operate. 

• Israeli forces bombed and destroyed the Beirut office of the Hezbollah-affiliated broadcaster Al-Mayadeen in the Jnah neighborhood of Beirut on October 23. The two missile strikes killed one person and injured five others, none of whom have been identified. The channel said it had previously evacuated its offices and “holds Israel responsible for the attack.”

The IDF responded to CPJ in New York’s email inquiring about these strikes on October 28; the IDF said its operations in Lebanon since October 8 have been “in accordance with its obligations under international law,” and the IDF “directs its strikes towards military targets and military operatives only, and does not target civilian objects and civilians.”

The IDF told CPJ it was unaware of a strike on October 20 in Tyre, Lebanon, and that they could better answer CPJ’s questions with specific coordinates and times of the attacks, information that CPJ has no access to provide.

Displacement and lack of PPE

• Journalists who resided in southern Lebanon, including Beqaa valley and Beirut’s southern suburb, told CPJ they face displacement because of Israeli strikes in this area. At least 15 journalists were displaced and received housing aid from local press freedom groups Skeyes and the Alternative Press Syndicate.

• Lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) has been an issue for many in the country, journalists told CPJ, adding that many press members do not own any and are working as freelancers, without an outlet’s direct support. Skeyes and Alternative Press Syndicate have loaned PPE to at least 100 journalists in the last month, with many more still on the waiting list.  

Attacked while reporting

• A group of around 20 men, some of whom were armed, beat two Belgian journalists with broadcaster VTM News while they reported on an Israeli airstrike that hit the Islamic Health Organization building in the Bashoura neighborhood of Beirut on October 3. Journalist Robin Ramaekers told CPJ he was treated at a hospital for facial fractures, and camera operator Stijn De Smet was treated for gunshot wounds to his leg. 

• A man chased and attacked two Italian journalists, reporter Lucia Goracci and camera operator Marco Nicois, with broadcaster RAI TG3 and tried to steal and break their cameras on October 8 in Jiyeh, a town south of Beirut. Their driver, Ahmad Akil Hamzeh, was trying to de-escalate the situation when he collapsed and later died of a heart attack. 

• A group of men attacked and insulted Mahmoud Shokor, a reporter with the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya, while he was reporting live on October 15 in Beqaa, a valley near the central town of Chtoura.

Several local and international journalists spoke to CPJ about being beaten or witnessing other journalists being attacked on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation as they continue to report on the war. CPJ is investigating at least six additional incidents of journalists being attacked while reporting in various areas in Beirut between October 10 and October 22. 

A journalist detained

• Police detained Alia Mansour, a Lebanese Syrian journalist and deputy editor-in-chief of privately owned Now Lebanon, for several hours on October 19 after a social media account impersonating the journalist appeared to be in communication with Israeli social media accounts. 

Restricted access

Multiple journalists who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, said that journalists working in Lebanon must now get accreditation from multiple parties before filming in any area, given the high risks of attacks. This includes the Lebanese Ministry of Information, political parties, and other groups influential in certain parts of the country. 

Multiple reporters told CPJ that authorities have also regularly restricted journalists’ access to bombed areas.  

On several occasions since September 2024, unidentified individuals have asked reporters from local and regional TV stations to leave or stop filming during live feeds of the bombings in Lebanon, according to reporters who spoke to CPJ and CPJ’s review of the news feeds. CPJ was unable to confirm the individuals’ affiliations.

Anti-media rhetoric

In October, Hezbollah’s media division accused several local and international media outlets, especially those that embedded reporters with the Israel Defense Forces in southern Lebanon, of “aiding Israel,” inciting violence, and “justification of Israeli crimes.” 

Mohammed Afif, Hezbollah’s media relations official, repeated these accusations in an October 22 press conference, adding that “freedom of the press does not give you immunity from incitement or complicity in murder.”

CPJ reviewed dozens of social media posts by unknown individuals in the last month containing calls to ban outlets, burn studios, or obstruct journalists working with the local privately owned Lebanese broadcaster MTV, the Saudi broadcasters Al-Hadath and Al-Arabiya, and the UAE-owned TV broadcaster Sky News Arabia. 

Outlets threatened

• Qatari-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera evacuated its studios in Beirut on October 17 over multiple bomb threats later determined to be fake by unnamed security sources. 

• NBN, a TV channel affiliated with the Shia political party Amal, part of Lebanon’s ruling coalition, evacuated its studios and paused broadcasting on October 22 after a staffer received a phoned threat that authorities later determined to be fake. 

CPJ’s texts to Hezbollah media spokesperson Rana Sahili and Lebanese Minister of Information Ziad Makari requesting comment on obstructions and attacks on the press and any official steps to protect them did not receive a response. A Lebanese Ministry of Interior media spokesperson told CPJ that the ministry declined to comment. 

The IDF’s North America Desk responded to CPJ in New York’s email requesting comment on the rest of these incidents on October 24; the IDF asked for an unspecified extension and coordinates of the attacks, information that CPJ, in response, said it has no access to provide.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The threats followed Akash’s June 9 Al Hadath report about a growing problem of drug trafficking in the northern city of Raqqa, which included interviews with local women who had been exploited by the trade and victimized by drug consumption. The report also explained how the ongoing conflict in Syria pushed this illegal trade to the forefront in Raqqa, which was previously occupied and controlled by the militant Islamic State group.

Akash told CPJ that his report was taken out of context and was interpreted as if it was targeting the reputation of Raqqa, its residents, and its women when the report highlighted the dangers of the growing drug business amid economic collapse.

The leader of Al Afadila, one of Raqqa’s largest and oldest clans with considerable local authority in the city, posted a video to Facebook on June 11 of four clan leaders addressing Akash, threatening him with violence if he entered Raqqa, and banning him from the city.

The leaders also called for “holding the journalist accountable and suspending him from work,” and demanded that the channel issue an apology from the city’s residents and delete the report. The news channel broadcasted the right of reply from Raqqa city, without agreeing to remove its report.

“After one of the clan representatives appeared in that video threatening me with violence and banning me from entering Raqqa, people followed his lead online, and the amount of threats I have received doubled.” Akash told CPJ. “I tried to explain to my attackers that the report was taken out of context, but the power the clans have on the ground in Raqqa makes it harder to argue against,” Akash added, saying that clans are a trusted entity in Raqqa and he fears that their threats might translate into real violence against him.

Akash told CPJ that he contacted the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Autonomous Authorities of the North and East Syria Region, two entities responsible for maintaining safety in the autonomous region, to protect him in accordance with the law because he is a licensed media worker, but so far, they have not taken any action to ensure his safety.

CPJ’s messages to the Autonomous Authorities of the North and East Syria Region and Syrian Democratic Forces requesting information about Akash’s case did not receive a response.

Clan representatives who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity said Akash’s report had accurate information and many truths but also had some exaggerations. They told CPJ that the threats Akash is facing are unacceptable and no journalist should be threatened for doing their job.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On Tuesday, Sudan’s Ministry of Media and Culture suspended the Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia news channel and Saudi Arabia’s state-owned channels Al Arabiya and Al Hadath for allegedly failing to renew their licenses, as well as “their inability to uphold necessary standards of professionalism and transparency,” according to news reports, and a local journalist who spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

“The Sudanese Ministry of Media and Culture’s decision to ban news channels Sky News Arabia, Al Arabiya, and Al Hadath is unacceptable during war time, when media coverage is crucial,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “Sudanese authorities must immediately revert its decision to ban the three news channels and allow them to continue working Sudan.”

The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate, a local trade union, condemned the ministry’s decision and called it a “clear violation of freedom of expression and the freedom of the press,” according to a statement by the syndicate on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Media and Culture and the Sudanese Armed Forces for comment but did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

During an appeal hearing held in the northeastern city of Annaba on Tuesday, December 12, the state prosecutor requested an additional one-year prison sentence for Bendjama, editor-in-chief of local independent news website Le Provincial, on charges of defamation and harming public order, according to news reports, and a local journalist who spoke to CPJ via messaging app on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. 

Bendjama’s defamation charges stem from complaints filed by the former governor of Annaba, Djamel Eddine Berimi, in 2020, according to those sources. The verdict in this trial is scheduled for December 19.

On March 20, 2020, Bendjama gave a television interview on the privately-owned Saudi news channel Al-Hadath where he criticized Berimi for allegedly violating nationwide COVID-19 lockdown restrictions by hosting a wedding party for his relatives, CPJ reported at the time.

“Charging imprisoned journalist Mustapha Bendjama in three different trials in less than a year is simply cruel and demonstrates the Algerian government’s level of intolerance for press freedom,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “Algerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Bendjama, drop all charges against him, and cease from imprisoning journalists for their work.”

On June 1, 2021, an Annaba court placed Bendjama under judicial control for that case, and since then, authorities have regularly summoned him for questioning, according to the local journalist.

Bendjama has been in custody since police arrested him from his office on February 8, 2023, and is currently serving a six-month prison sentence for allegedly helping French-Algerian journalist Amira Bouraoui flee to France earlier this year. Bouraoui, who is banned from traveling outside of Algeria, denied any connection with Bendjama, according to news reports. Bendjama appealed the sentence, and his verdict in this trial is scheduled for December 19, according to news reports. 

Separately, Bendjama is also serving a reduced prison sentence of 20 months, eight months in prison and 12 months suspended, in relation to a third trial, in which he was convicted of receiving foreign funding to commit acts against public order and publishing classified information. Bendjama was due for release on November 7; instead, authorities extended his detention and convicted him in the immigration case, CPJ reported at the time.

CPJ emailed the Algerian Ministry of Interior for comment but did not receive any response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Yesterday, journalist Rasha Abdullah al-Harazi was killed in a car bomb attack while she was driving through the Khor Makser neighborhood of the southern port city of Aden, according to reports by Reuters, The Associated Press, and the independent Yemeni newspaper Al-Masdar.

Al-Harazi was pregnant at the time, those reports said. Her husband, Mahmoud al-Atmi, who is also a journalist, was seriously injured in the blast and has been hospitalized, according to those reports.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the AP.

“Rasha Abdullah al-Harazi’s horrific killing and Mahmoud al-Atmi’s grievous injuries illustrate how Yemeni journalists face death daily by simply living in their home country and covering the news,” said CPJ Senior Middle East and North Africa Researcher Justin Shilad. “All parties to Yemen’s conflict must stop killing journalists, and international institutions and their member states must stop burying their heads in the sand and immediately work toward accountability for these crimes.”

Al-Harazi worked for the Emirati news channels Al-Ain and Al-Sharq, according to the AP and a report by the Saudi satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. She worked as a photographer and camera operator for Al-Ain, and also for the U.A.E.-based Bloomberg Asharq, a collaboration between the U.S. business news wire and the Saudi government-tied Saudi Research and Media Group, according to a person familiar with her work who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing security reasons.

Al-Atmi contributes to Al-Arabiya and the Saudi news channel Al-Hadath, according to that Al-Arabiya report.

Al-Atmi previously received threats from the Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, according to Al-Masdar. After the attack, Yemeni journalist Bassem al-Janani posted screenshots on Twitter purporting to show al-Atmi describing how members of the Houthis had been asking for information about his address in Aden and a description of his car.

Al-Janani wrote that he told al-Atmi to leave Aden, but al-Atmi responded that he could not because his wife was about to give birth to their second child.

CPJ contacted al-Janani via messaging app, but did not immediately receive any response.

Initial reports stated that the couple’s son Jawad was also killed in the blast, but the person who spoke to CPJ said that Jawad was not in the car at the time.

Aden is controlled by the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, a group that agreed to a power-sharing arrangement with the internationally recognized Yemeni government in 2019; that deal was never fully implemented, and the council operates autonomously with its own security forces and allied militias, according to news reports.

When contacted via messaging app, Southern Transitional Council spokesperson Mansour Saleh told CPJ that the council strongly condemned the bombing and that its security forces were investigating it.

Southern Transitional Council President Aydarous al-Zubaidi ordered the council to cover the costs of al-Atmi’s medical treatment, Saleh said.

At least 19 journalists have been killed in Yemen since conflict broke out in 2014, and at least two were killed in Aden last year, according to CPJ research.

Last month, the U.N. Human Rights Council voted to end the mandate for the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, in effect removing the only independent international accountability mechanism for human rights abuses committed by all sides during the conflict.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.