The intensifying campaign of intimidation and violence waged by Israeli occupation forces against journalists in Lebanese territory has been strongly condemned, described as a systematic assault on the free flow of information and a grave breach of international humanitarian law.

In a statement released this week, Women Journalists Without Chains reported that at least four journalists were subjected to direct attacks or explicit threats by Israeli forces over the past seven days alone. The organization characterized these actions as part of a deliberate effort to obstruct documentation of events on the ground, suppress independent reporting, and dismantle media activity in areas of conflict.

One of the most recent incidents occurred on Sunday, December 28, in the southern Lebanese border town of Houla, where photojournalist Courtney Bonneau and cameraman Ali Zeineddine were threatened by Israeli soldiers while performing their professional duties. Bonneau, who works with Middle East Images, later described the confrontation on social media, stating that Israeli forces stationed at an illegal military outpost shouted orders in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, warning the journalists not to approach and instructing them to leave the area.

Only days earlier, on Thursday, December 25, Israeli troops stationed at the Jarda military site opened fire toward a crew from Al Mayadeen TV as they were preparing a report in the town of al-Dhahira, documenting conditions in the surrounding buffer zones along the border with occupied Palestine. Reporter Jamal al-Ghorabi and cameraman Ali Hankir confirmed that the shots were fired in their direction, forcing them to withdraw from the location.

Women Journalists Without Chains stated that such actions are not isolated incidents but rather part of a sustained pattern aimed at concealing realities on the ground and obstructing international scrutiny. The organization stressed that these attacks constitute flagrant violations of international conventions that guarantee the protection of journalists and safeguard freedom of the press during armed conflicts.

A Record of Systematic Targeting
Over the past year, Women Journalists Without Chains has documented dozens of Israeli attacks on journalists working inside Lebanon. Among the most serious cases was an incident in January, when Israeli forces fired on a group of five Lebanese journalists covering the return of residents to border towns, leaving several of them wounded.

In August, Lebanese journalist Mohammed Hamza Shahada was killed after his vehicle was struck by an Israeli drone on the Tyre–Sidon highway — a targeted killing that sent shockwaves through the regional media community and underscored the growing dangers faced by reporters in the field.

Regional Crisis for Journalism
Since October 2023, journalism across areas targeted by Israeli military operations — particularly in Palestine and Lebanon — has entered what Women Journalists Without Chains describes as catastrophic conditions. These conditions include mass killings, forced displacement, widespread destruction of infrastructure, and the near-total devastation of media institutions in the Gaza Strip, compounded by Israel’s ongoing ban on the entry of foreign journalists into the enclave.

According to data issued by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, Israeli attacks have resulted in the killing of approximately 706 family members of journalists in Gaza. The Syndicate further reports that the number of journalists killed in Gaza since the beginning of the assault — 257 journalists — surpasses the number of journalists killed in the world wars and other major global conflicts combined. Meanwhile, journalists in the West Bank and Jerusalem continue to face systematic violations, including detention, assault, and harassment.

In Lebanon alone, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of at least 13 journalists and media workers, with dozens more wounded and many suffering severe physical, psychological, and material losses.

Shrinking Press Freedom in Lebanon
Beyond military threats, Women Journalists Without Chains has also documented more than 120 violations of press freedom inside Lebanon, ranging from killings and injuries to physical assaults, intimidation, threats, and the misuse of legal and security mechanisms against journalists and activists.

The organization reported that many journalists have been summoned for interrogation by bodies lacking legal jurisdiction over publishing cases, including the Cybercrime Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Department, rather than the Court of Publications, the only authority legally mandated to adjudicate media-related matters. These practices, Women Journalists Without Chains warned, represent a dangerous erosion of constitutional safeguards — particularly Article 13 of the Lebanese Constitution — and contradict Lebanon’s international commitments on freedom of expression. 

The pattern of repression has also extended to cultural institutions, photographers, artists, and independent media outlets, signaling a broader decline in democratic space. Broad and vaguely worded provisions of Lebanon’s Penal Code and Cybercrime Law, Women Journalists Without Chains noted, are increasingly deployed to intimidate journalists and impose arbitrary restrictions on legitimate journalistic work.

Call for International Action
Women Journalists Without Chains renewed its urgent appeal to the United Nations, international press freedom organizations, and the Committee to Protect Journalists to take immediate and decisive action to halt the targeting of journalists in Lebanon and Palestine. The organization emphasized that crimes committed against media professionals constitute war crimes under international law and require international prosecution 

The organization also called on Lebanese authorities to fulfill their constitutional and international obligations, end the instrumentalization of security and judicial institutions against independent media, and guarantee an environment in which journalists can work safely, freely, and without fear of reprisal.