Ramallah – 30th August 2026. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (“MADA”) issued its semi-annual report on the state of media freedoms in Palestine, covering the first six (6) months of 2026. The report revealed that, despite a relative decline in the total number of violations compared to the same period last year, the journalistic work environment remains highly dangerous and complex. The Center documented a total of 326 (Three Hundred Twenty-Six) crimes and assaults against journalists and media institutions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
The report’s indicators showed a clear decrease in the number of violations monitored by the Center during the first half of 2026 compared to the first half of the previous year, 2025, with a decline rate of approximately 39% (Thirty-Nine Percent). During the reporting period, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including the occupied city of Jerusalem, witnessed a total of 326 (Three Hundred Twenty-Six) crimes and assaults, compared to a total of 537 (Five Hundred Thirty-Seven) violations documented during the first half of 2025, a decrease of 211 (Two Hundred Eleven) violations. These violations affected 170 (One Hundred Seventy) journalists, including 144 (One Hundred Forty-Four) male journalists and 26 (Twenty-Six) female journalists, in addition to 10 (Ten) media crews who were subjected to attacks more than once.
The report shows that the Israeli occupation continues to bear the greatest responsibility for assaults on media freedoms, having committed a total of 296 (Two Hundred Ninety-Six) violations, representing 91% (Ninety-One Percent) of the total documented violations. These occurred within 18 (Eighteen) different patterns, the most serious of which was the killing of 8 (Eight) journalists, most of whom died as a result of direct targeting or medical negligence in prisons, in addition to 21 (Twenty-One) physical assaults involving live ammunition, shrapnel, and gas bombs, and 179 (One Hundred Seventy-Nine) violations related to obstruction of coverage and targeting aimed at preventing coverage, accounting for 60% (Sixty Percent) of the Israeli violations, reflecting a systematic policy of media suffocation by the occupation. Although Israeli violations decreased by 40% (Forty Percent) compared to the same period in 2025, which recorded 494 (Four Hundred Ninety-Four) violations, the figures remain higher than in the years preceding the war.
“MADA” documented 23 (Twenty-Three) violations committed by Palestinian parties, accounting for 7% (Seven Percent) of the total documented violations, a decrease of 32% (Thirty-Two Percent) compared to the same period in 2025, during which 34 (Thirty-Four) violations were documented. The Palestinian violations occurred within 8 (Eight) categories, including arrest, summons, detention, incitement, defamation, travel bans, and others, distributed as 13 (Thirteen) violations in the West Bank and 10 (Ten) violations in the Gaza Strip.
In addition, 6 (Six) violations were carried out by social media platforms and digital applications against Palestinian media content, an increase of 1 (One) violation compared to the same period of the previous year. Although few in number, these violations reflect a continuation of digital discrimination policies practiced by some major companies toward Palestinian content for a long period, and call for continued human-rights pressure to ensure transparency and prevent double standards in content management on these platforms. The report also revealed 1 (One) additional violation attributed to other parties.
The report affirmed that this numerical decline in violations does not indicate an actual improvement in the journalistic work environment in Palestine, as media professionals continue to face grave risks threatening their lives and restricting their right to freedom of expression and access to information, amid the continuation of a policy of impunity and the absence of legal protection for journalists, a matter that necessitates effective national and international action to protect journalists and guarantee their right to work freely and safely.
To read the report:
https://www.madacenter.org/en/article/1585/
