B Explanatory memorandum
by Mr Constantinos Efstathiou, rapporteurNote
1 Introduction
1. This report originates in the
motion for a resolution entitled “The erosion of press freedom through violence
against journalists in the Middle East”
(Doc. 16204), which was referred for report to the Committee on Culture,
Science, Education and Media on 27 June 2025. The signatories are
concerned by the fact that the Israel-Gaza conflict has become the
deadliest war for journalists in recent history. Moreover, press
freedom is being eroded through legislative measures and political
intimidation.
2. During the committee work I noticed that the title of the
motion for a resolution was slightly misleading, since the motion
itself focuses on the Israel-Gaza conflict only, and not on the
much broader and more ambiguous term of “Middle East”. Therefore,
I suggested changing the title of my report into “Journalism in
the context of the Israel-Gaza conflict”, and the committee accepted
this change of title on 12 March 2026.
2 Purpose and structure of the report
3. In line with the motion for
a resolution, the report examines threats to freedom of expression
and media freedom during the Israel-Gaza conflict and assesses their
compatibility with international norms safeguarding journalists
and other media workers.
4. I will consider the following issues:
- international humanitarian law regarding the protection
of journalists at war;
- violations of international humanitarian law by Israel
regarding local journalists inside Gaza;
- legal actions brought before Israel’s Supreme Court regarding
the free access of international journalists into the Gaza Strip;
- Hamas’ attacks on press freedom and freedom of expression
in Gaza.
3 International
legislation for the protection of journalists
5. Israel is a member State of
the United Nations since 11 May 1949 and the Knesset (parliament)
was granted observer status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe on 2 December 1957.
6. Palestine is a non-member observer State in the United Nations
since 29 November 2012
Note and the Palestinian National Council
was granted partner for democracy status with the Assembly on 4
October 2011 by
Resolution
1830 (2011) of the Assembly.
7. In accordance with international humanitarian law, journalists
are considered as civilians provided that they take no action adversely
affecting this status.
Note
8. The
Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time
of War and especially Article 79 of the
Protocol
Additional to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection
of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1) extend the protection of humanitarian law
to journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas
of armed conflict. These journalists are to be considered as civilians within
the meaning of Article 50, paragraph 1, of Protocol 1. As such,
journalists are to be protected under the Conventions and this Protocol,
provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status
as civilians, and without prejudice to the right of war correspondents
accredited to the armed forces to the status provided for in Article
4 A (4) of the Third Convention. They may obtain an identity card
that attests to this status as a journalist similar to the model
in Annex II of this Protocol, which shall be issued by the government
of the State of which the journalist is a national or in whose territory
they reside or in which the news medium employing them is located.
If justified by imperative security reasons, a party to the conflict
may subject civilians to assigned residence or internment but these
measures cannot be used as a form of punishment. Interned persons
must be released as soon as the reasons that necessitated their
internment no longer exist. Rules governing civilian internees’
treatment and conditions of detention under international humanitarian
law are very similar to those applicable to prisoners of war.
10. In the absence of a specific international convention that
provides a definition of the concepts of freedom of information
and the rights of journalists, the implementation of these principles
is subject to the constraints imposed by national laws, which are
often guided by the principle of public order. Consequently, journalists
and the media may be subject to various charges under national law,
including threats to national security, enemy propaganda, incitement
to violence, internal disturbances, hatred, separatism, defamation.
Note
4 The
Council of Europe and the protection of journalists in Gaza
11. The
European
Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) protects journalists notably through Article 10 on freedom
of expression, which includes freedom to hold opinions and to receive
and impart information and ideas without interference by public
authority and regardless of frontiers. Moreover, other articles
of the Convention are relevant in the context of journalistic activities
in times of conflict, such as Article 2 (right to life), Article
3 (prohibition of torture), Article 5 (right to liberty and security),
Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life), and Article
18 (limitation on use of restriction on rights).
Note
14. The Parliamentary Assembly has also addressed the issue of
the protection of journalists for several years, most recently in
Resolution 2618 (2025) “Journalists matter: the need to step up efforts to
liberate Ukrainian journalists held in captivity by the Russian
Federation”.
15. Regarding the issue of the protection of journalists in Gaza,
in January 2025 the Assembly reiterated in its
Resolution 2582 (2025) “The absolute and urgent need to end the humanitarian
crisis for women, children and the hostages in Gaza” the importance
of free press in a democratic society and the responsibilities of
the parties to the Israel-Gaza conflict in guaranteeing safety for
journalists, especially when working in zones of military conflict.
The resolution called on Israel to immediately allow access to the
Gaza Strip for local and foreign journalists and for international
organisations responsible for providing information or carrying
out investigations, and to facilitate their work in safe conditions.
16. Furthermore, in June 2025 the Assembly adopted
Resolution 2609 (2025) “Global peace under threat: halting the humanitarian
catastrophe in Gaza and addressing the wider conflict in the Middle
East”, in which it called for immediate and full access for international
journalists and independent media outlets reporting on Gaza, which
would improve independent and objective reporting.
17. During an urgent debate on 30 September 2025, the Assembly
adopted
Resolution 2623
(2025) “Urgent call to put an end to the devastating humanitarian
catastrophe and the killing of journalists in Gaza”, in which the
Assembly deplored “the exceptionally high number of journalists
killed or injured in Gaza,” reiterating that journalists and media
workers are civilians under international humanitarian law, and
called on all parties “to ensure their protection and safe and unhindered
access to Gaza and conflict areas.”
5 Violations
of international law regarding local journalists in Gaza
18. According to Reporters Without
Borders (RSF), more than 220 journalists have been killed by the
Israeli army in Gaza since the launch of Israel’s military campaign
in response to the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas and other
militias on 7 October 2023. This would include three journalists
killed in January 2026, after the October 2025 ceasefire. At least
68 of these journalists would have been targeted or killed in the
course of carrying out their work, according to RSF information.
Note
19. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) provides slightly
different figures that comprise other related conflicts: 257 journalists
and media workers killed by Israel, of which 207 were Palestinians
killed in Gaza, 1 Palestinian killed in Gaza during the Iran war,
2 Palestinians killed in Israeli detention centers, 31 Yemenis in
Yemen, 6 Lebanese in Lebanon during the war on Gaza, 7 Lebanese
in Lebanon during the Iran war, 3 Iranians in Iran during the 12-day
war. Moreover, CPJ mentions 174 journalists reported injured, 2
journalists reported missing, 106 journalists arrested, multiple
assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship, and killings of family
members.
Note
20. The most recent examples of journalists killed in Gaza include
Mohammed Washah, an Al Jazeera journalist, and Amal El Shamali,
a freelance journalist, both killed in drone attacks on 8 April
2026 and 9 March 2026 respectively.
Note Before that, on 21 January 2026,
three journalists identified as Anas Ghneim, Mohammed Salah Qashta
and Abdoul Raouf Shaath were killed in an airstrike on their vehicle
whilst they were filming, in Al-Zhara, a camp set up by the Egyptians
for displaced people. According to the Israeli army, it had struck
three “suspects” operating a drone in the area.
Note
21. Most of the journalists killed are Palestinian. Foreign journalists
have been almost totally barred from entering the Gaza Strip, and
the few which have gained access are obliged to be accompanied by
the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), thus in effect subjecting them
to surveillance. In this regard, petitions by the Foreign Press
Association requesting that international media and journalists
be allowed to enter Gaza freely have been so far rejected by Israel’s
Supreme Court, which justified this rejection on the grounds that
reporters could endanger Israeli military forces by reporting their
positions (see below).
22. Media coverage of the war in Gaza from the ground is carried
out by both professional and non-professional journalist, including
young women and men, who have bravely continued to use social media
to inform the world about the daily life of the Gaza population
over the last two years. The majority of independent and semi-independent
media outlets are today lacking the material and financial means
they need to function; Israeli airstrikes have destroyed most telecommunications
and media infrastructure, and the humanitarian, security and economic
crises heavily impact the lives, safety and working conditions of
local journalists as well as of the rest of the population, which
also reduces their ability to carry on their reporting work.
23. The IDF stands accused of deliberately targeting and killing
not only civilians but also journalists. It persistently denies
such accusations, stating that it “directs its strikes only towards
military targets and military operatives, and does not target civilian
objects and civilians, including media organisations and journalists
as such”. In that regard, IDF has released documents which purport
to reveal “the involvement of Al Jazeera journalists as terrorist
operatives”
Note and indicate “close co-operation
between Hamas and the network”.
Note
24. A recent study by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism
Information Center
Note has examined the identities of
266 individuals who were identified as journalists or media workers
and were killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 30 November 2023.
The study found that at least 157 of these individuals were members
of terrorist groups or were clearly affiliated with them. This included
104 individuals who were linked to Hamas and 45 who were linked
to Islamic Jihad. Some others were linked to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’
Brigades as well as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular
Resistance Committees. According to the authors, the study’s conclusions
are based on public records, Palestinian media reports, and Hamas
documents seized by the IDF during ground operations in Gaza.
25. Al Jazeera refutes these claims,
Note and international press associations
do not consider them to be substantiated.
Note
26. On 10 October 2025, a ceasefire was agreed between Israel
and Hamas as part of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan. The
agreement
Note did not change the situation vis-à-vis
international journalists, and it even excluded the media coverage
of exchanges of hostages and prisoners.
27. It is important to note that the challenges faced by the press
in Gaza are not solely related to actions taken by Israel. Indeed,
the Gaza Strip has been a dangerous place for journalists long before
7 October 2023.
28. There are numerous accounts of journalists explaining the
difficulties of practising journalism under Hamas rule. Examples
include photographers being bullied and having their equipment confiscated
for taking pictures of Hamas operatives in compromising circumstances
(such as gunmen preparing to shoot rockets from within civilian
structures and/or fighting in civilian clothing).
Note A journalist acknowledged off the
record that there are no images of Hamas people, gunmen or rocket
launchers because of fear of being killed by Hamas operatives.
Note Another journalist expressed moral
concerns about self-censorship because of fear for their personal
safety which prevented them from telling a story exposing how Hamas’
launching rockets were putting so many more lives at risk, while
the rocket-makers themselves were at a safe distance.
Note
29. During the war, press freedom violations by Hamas have been
vastly underreported, mostly for fear of reprisals, as Hamas is
known for violently targeting and killing its critics. The CPJ speaks
about intimidation, threats, detentions, bans of media outlets,
and assaults.
Note RSF has reported threats and physical
attacks on local journalists covering the protests by the Gaza population
against Hamas, with one journalist receiving a death threat.
Note
6 Awareness
actions undertaken by the media and journalists’ associations
30. On 5 June 2025, RSF, the CJP
and over 200 media outlets issued a public appeal
Note calling for immediate, independent
and unrestricted access for international media to Gaza and for
the full protection of journalists who continue to report in spite
of the siege. The open letter considers that the situation constitutes a
direct attack on press freedom and the right to information, and
stresses that in such a pivotal moment, with renewed military action
and efforts to resume the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, it
is vital that Israel open Gaza’s borders for international journalists
to be able to report freely and that Israel abide by its international obligations
to protect journalists as civilians.
31. Moreover, on 24 July 2025 the
European Federation
of Journalists (EFJ), in co-ordination with the
Palestinian Journalists
Syndicate (PJS), sent an open letter to the European Commission titled
“Our
letter to the EU on Gaza: starvation as a weapon, silence as complicity”. This letter calls for courage from the public authorities
in reacting to the current humanitarian catastrophe and what it
considers the deliberate starvation and collective punishment of
the population by the Israeli Government, and stresses that now
only local journalists remain in Gaza to bear witness. The letter
demands that the European Commission “publicly and officially support
the suspension of the agreement between the EU and Israel, the urgent
evacuation of civilians in immediate danger, international calls
to allow foreign journalists access to Gaza, the protection of local reporters”,
and calls “for an international investigation into systematic starvation
as a war crime.”
32. On 31 August 2025, hundreds of media outlets around the world,
brought together by RSF and the campaigning platform Avaaz, launched
a campaign
Note consisting of an entire or partial
blackout of the front pages of print media, banners on online news
sites, and audio or video messages broadcast by radio and television
stations. This campaign called for the protection of Palestinian
journalists in Gaza, the emergency evacuation of reporters seeking
to leave the Strip, an end to impunity for Israeli crimes against
Gaza’s reporters and that foreign press be granted independent access
to the territory.
7 Court
proceedings
33. On 30 September 2025, RSF filed
its fifth complaint against Israel with the International Criminal
Court (ICC) since October 2023.
Note In all of these complaints, RSF
has asked the ICC to investigate all 68 crimes against journalists
and 2 crimes committed by Hamas against Israeli journalists during
the attacks of 7 October 2023 as war crimes. RSF has also asked
the ICC to investigate all deaths of journalists in the Gaza Strip.
34. On 26 November 2025, a complaint against persons unknown (“plainte
contre X”) was filed with the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s
Office by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and
the French Syndicat national des journalistes (SNJ).
Note This complaint alleges obstruction
of the freedom of the press and war crimes and it is based on numerous
testimonies from French journalists, which were collected anonymously
to ensure their safety and enable them to continue their work. Although
the complaint does not target any specific individual, the obstructions
documented by the IFJ and the SNJ are committed by military and
police units, customs and administrative services, but also by private
individuals, including settlers in the occupied territories. French
reporters on the ground describe a daily reality characterised by
denial of access, checks, threats, the seizure of equipment, and
at times physical assaults, being held at gunpoint, arrests, searches
and interrogations, as well as arbitrary detention, expulsion, and
sometimes manhunts. According to Inès Davau and Louise El Yafi,
the lawyers representing IFJ and SNJ, “This is the first time that
legal action of this nature – based both on systematic obstacles
to the practice of journalism and on war crimes targeting these
professionals – has been brought before a national court to protect
French reporters in conflict zones. The protection of press freedom
is a fundamental principle in any State governed by the rule of
law. It fully justifies bringing the matter before the French courts
when a French journalist is the victim of attacks on the exercise
of their profession.”
35. On 28 January 2026, the Israeli High Court of Justice postponed
yet again a ruling on a petition of the Foreign Press Association
(FPA) for free and independent press access to Gaza. The FPA had
argued that there were no security arguments that justified Israel’s
blanket ban on allowing foreign journalists independent access to
Gaza at a time when humanitarian aid workers and other officials
were being allowed into Gaza. According to the FPA, the court’s
decision was taken following the presentation of classified security
arguments by the Israeli Government. This presentation was carried
out behind closed doors and without the presence of the FPA’s attorneys.
Note The postponement of the court’s
ruling until 29 March came with a request to the State to provide
an update on the situation in another two months’ time, but, at
the time of writing these lines (14 April 2026), there had been
no such update from the court.
8 Exchange
of views with Reporters without Borders
36. During the meeting of the Committee
on Culture, Science, Education and Media of 12 March 2026, we had
the opportunity of hearing Mr Jonathan Dagher, Middle East expert
from Reporters Without Borders, Paris.
37. The exchange of views showed that the situation in Gaza remained
very dangerous and very difficult for local journalists. Since the
ceasefire three journalists had been killed in January and RSF was
currently investigating the killing of a fourth journalist.
38. Mr Dagher focused on four main axes of the situation of journalists.
39. The first point was exhaustion and incapacity to do the work
properly. Journalists had been working nearly nonstop in dire circumstances
for more than two years, losing their homes, their media offices,
their newsrooms, living in their cars, in tents, near hospitals,
not having access to any medical care, struggling to find food and
water. Moreover, journalists also felt abandoned. During the war,
there was at least some focus on their situation, but now the attention
had shifted completely elsewhere. Mr Dagher also spoke about the
two-way blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. Very few journalists
were able to leave Gaza and it had been nearly impossible to evacuate
journalists. In most cases, the Israeli Government blocked the evacuation
of journalists without any explanation, and sometimes even after
having priorly approved it. Moreover, there was no independent access
to the international press in Gaza. RSF had launched campaigns and
formed partnerships with other organisations, but the ban continued.
40. The second point was danger. According to RSF information,
more than 220 journalists had been killed in the Gaza Strip by the
Israeli army, and at least 68 amongst those were targeted or killed
for reasons related to their work. Investigating the death of these
journalists was much more difficult, particularly in the context
of very heavy civilian death tolls. As to the rest, and without
access to the ground, RSF did not have more information on the circumstances
of their death.
41. The third point was the complete destruction of infrastructure
in Gaza. Almost all journalists were displaced in Gaza, most of
them living in tents. They would gather near hospitals to have access
to electricity and other facilities, and it also allowed them to
report more effectively. Given that press equipment was destroyed,
RSF tried to give journalists money within Gaza so they could buy
equipment locally. Regarding infrastructure, RSF had proof that
newsrooms were targeted by the Israeli army, and this was also a
war crime.
42. The fourth point was precarity. What could be seen on the
ground was freelance journalists. Insurance was a nightmare, and
inflation had skyrocketed in recent months.
43. Mr Dagher mentioned two further points: journalists had been
targeted by a fierce propaganda campaign, mostly by the Israeli
authorities, accusing them of being propagandists, terrorists, affiliated
with Hamas, even sometimes of having participated in the terrorist
attack of 7 October 2023. The elements that RSF had investigated
did not reveal any of the sort. When they asked the Israeli army
to provide more information, they hid behind national security reasons.
44. According to RSF, the Israeli Government has imposed a blackout
on the war in Gaza to make the job of journalists as difficult as
possible. This was a threat to our right everywhere in the world
to be informed. It was a threat to democracies and the right of
people in democracies to form opinions and to make political choices
based on free, independent and pluralistic information.
9 Conclusions
45. I would like to join my voice
to all those calling for the full respect by Israel of its obligations
under international humanitarian and human rights law.
46. First of all, the Assembly must reiterate once more that journalists
working in areas of armed conflict are civilians and are protected
as such under international humanitarian law, provided that they
do nothing to adversely affect their legal status, and that targeting
and killing journalists and their families is a war crime, which
cannot meet with impunity.
47. The Assembly must urge Israel to halt the targeting of journalists
and to fully adhere to all relevant international human rights and
humanitarian obligations in this respect.
48. The Assembly must urge the ICC to investigate the alleged
war crimes committed by the Israeli army against journalists in
Gaza.
49. Member States must continue to exert pressure for the immediate
granting of free and safe access of international media to Gaza
so that the situation on the ground can be observed and reported.
Moreover, where it is needed they must call for and facilitate the
evacuation of Palestinian journalists and their families from Gaza and
provide them with psychological and material support.
50. Finally, we all must be guided by the fact that journalists
are our eyes and ears, bearing witness to situation on the ground
during political and military operations, and most importantly in
the face of humanitarian catastrophes and crises. The exposure of
journalists to life-threatening circumstances, or even death, essentially
deprives us of access to information, thereby giving Israel a free
rein to commit aggression, atrocities and violations of humanitarian
law, international law and human rights without facing any accountability.
51. Drawing upon these conclusions, I hereby propose a set of
concrete measures in the draft resolution.
