RAMALLAH / Qais Abu Samra / Anadolu

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said on Monday that Israel killed 8 journalists as part of 467 violations carried out by the army and settlers against them during the first half of 2026, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This came in a speech by the head of the Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Muhammad al-Lahham, during a press conference held by the syndicate in Ramallah, in which it reviewed its semi-annual report on the state of media freedoms in the Palestinian territories.

The syndicate's report showed that the army and settlers committed '467 crimes and violations against journalists and media workers during the first half of this year.'

Al-Lahham said the report documents the escalation of crimes committed against journalists, amid the continuation of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and violations in the West Bank.

He explained that more than 41 percent of the total violations consisted of preventing journalistic coverage and detaining media crews, amounting to 192 cases, considering that this 'reflects a systematic policy to blind the media scene in the occupied Palestinian territories.'

He added that the report documented the martyrdom of 8 journalists during the first six months of this year, bringing the number of journalists killed since October 8, 2023, to 264 journalists.

He pointed out that the report recorded during the same period 27 cases of arrest, 29 cases of shooting at journalists, 78 cases of firing gas and sound grenades, in addition to 14 cases of assault by beating, two injuries by bullets, and 16 cases of threats with weapons, in addition to 6 attacks carried out by settlers.

He added that the occupation forces expelled 19 journalists from Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the report monitored 22 cases of seizure or destruction of journalistic equipment.

In addition, he explained that Israeli forces stormed 7 homes and media institutions, closed 3 media institutions, and banned 5 websites during the same period.

Al-Lahham mentioned that February recorded the highest number of violations at 122 violations, followed by January with 109 violations, then June with 89, while March recorded 53 violations, April 39, and May 55.

According to the report, the number of violations against Palestinian journalists from October 2023 until the end of last June reached about 4,127 violations, resulting in the arrest of 193 journalists, the destruction of 187 journalistic institutions, 140 journalists' homes, and the killing of 713 of their family members.

For his part, the head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Nasser Abu Bakr, said that the syndicate continues to pursue legal files related to Israeli violations against journalists before international bodies.

He added that the syndicate held a conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva under the auspices of the International Federation of Journalists (without specifying its date), attended by UN special rapporteurs, during which violations and extrajudicial killings of Palestinian journalists were presented.

He noted that the National Union of French Journalists informed the Palestinian syndicate of its intention to file a lawsuit before the French judiciary regarding war crimes committed against journalists, along with other legal moves in cooperation with the Palestinian Trade Union Federation.

Abu Bakr called on the International Criminal Court to speed up investigation procedures into crimes committed against Palestinian journalists and to announce the steps it has taken against those responsible, stressing that targeting journalists 'is not individual incidents, but part of an aggression targeting the right to know and convey the truth.'

Since October 8, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 73,000 dead and over 173,000 wounded, and massive destruction affecting 90 percent of civilian infrastructure.

In parallel, the Israeli army and settlers escalated their attacks in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the killing of 1,181 Palestinians and injury of about 13,000, in addition to the arrest of nearly 24,000, according to official Palestinian data.