AhlulBayt News Agency: The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory warned today, Tuesday, that Israel, the Occupying Power, has intensified its repression against journalists, human rights defenders, and non-governmental organizations. The Office asserted that this crackdown increasingly narrows the space available for monitoring and documenting human rights violations and seeking accountability, severely undermining the right to freedom of expression and assembly.
The Office documented the killing of 289 journalists in Gaza due to Israeli military operations between October 7, 2023, and December 14, 2025, including incidents with strong indications of deliberate targeting of Palestinian journalists because of their work. At least 202 Palestinian journalists were also arrested, most of whom were held under administrative detention, with alarming reports of torture, ill-treatment, and the death of at least 85 Palestinians in occupation detention centers.
Concurrently, Israel continues to impose a comprehensive ban on independent access for international journalists to Gaza and unwarranted restrictions on media operations in the West Bank, in addition to forcibly closing Al Jazeera's offices in Ramallah under a law permitting the shutdown of foreign media deemed a "threat to national security."
The Office noted that this constriction is part of a broader campaign of repression against anti-occupation activists and civil society organizations. Israel uses emergency regulations and the 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law to tighten the noose on the funding and operations of international and local NGOs and arrest their staff. The Head of the Office, Ajith Sunghay, concluded that these violations create fear and despair, denying Palestinians any means to convey the reality of their lives to the world and seek justice for decades of discrimination, violence, and repression.
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