Ramallah – 25th March 2025: The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms "MADA" issued its annual report on the state of media freedoms in the West Bank (including the occupied city of Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip during 2024, outlining the crimes and violations that occurred.
Violations in 2024 showed a significant increase of 12% compared to the previous year, a result of the rising number of Israeli violations due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has continued since October 7, 2023.
The year 2024 witnessed a total of 953 violations against media freedoms in Palestine, of which 885 were committed by the Israeli occupation. The most severe violations included the killing of 113 journalists. Additionally, various Palestinian groups in the West Bank and Gaza committed 56 violations, while social media companies were responsible for 9 violations, and other entities were accountable for 3 violations.
The violations targeted a total of 474 journalists, of whom 405 were male (85%) and 69 were female (15%).
The increase in violations in 2024 was largely attributed to the ongoing war on Gaza, and the escalation of Israeli aggression in the West Bank and Gaza, leading to an unprecedented rise in the targeting of journalists, primarily through killings. The lack of international accountability and the continued impunity for the occupying authorities also played a significant role in the rise in violations, which followed a systematic policy to silence media voices in both the West Bank and Gaza.
The annual report by "MADA" revealed that Israeli violations, which accounted for 93% of all recorded violations, increased by 24% compared to the previous year. These violations occurred across 21 different types and were among the most dangerous to journalists’ lives and the state of media freedoms. The Israeli occupation forces killed 113 journalists in 2024, constituting 13% of all documented Israeli crimes. In addition, 124 physical assaults were reported, accounting for 14% of all violations, including 57 incidents involving live or rubber-coated bullet wounds, or injuries from shrapnel resulting from bombing civilian neighborhoods in Gaza.
The report highlighted that the most dangerous Israeli violations against the life and safety of journalists were: the killing of journalists, physical assaults, arrests and detentions, restrictions on coverage, targeting to prevent coverage, and the destruction of journalists’ homes through bombing. These violations totaled 754 crimes, accounting for 85% of all Israeli violations documented during 2024.
Regarding Palestinian violations, the report noted a decline in the number of violations committed by various Palestinian parties in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2024, with a 21% decrease compared to the previous year. "MADA" documented 56 Palestinian violations in the West Bank and Gaza, compared to 71 in the previous year.
Palestinian violations, which occurred across 10 types, represented 6% of all documented violations in 2024. They were distributed as follows: 44 violations in the West Bank and 12 in Gaza.
According to MADA's monitoring and documentation, despite the decrease in Palestinian violations in the West Bank by 10 points, this does not reflect an improvement in media freedoms. MADA documented the killing of a female journalist by Palestinian gunfire in the "Jenin" refugee camp in the northern West Bank, the source of which remains unidentified.
Meanwhile, Palestinian violations in Gaza saw a decline of five points, with MADA documenting 12 violations against media freedoms in 2024, compared to 17 in the previous year.
In addition to Israeli and Palestinian violations, the report indicated that 9 violations were committed by social media platforms and companies, a decrease of 86% compared to the violations documented the previous year. Three violations were attributed to other entities.
To read the full report:
https://www.madacenter.org/files/annual%20Rep2024E.pdf
