PARIS: Fifty-four journalists were killed worldwide while carrying out their work or because of their profession in 2024, a third of them by the Israeli army, according to an annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published Thursday.
According to the press freedom NGO, Israeli armed forces were responsible for the deaths of 18 journalists this year — 16 in Gaza and two in Lebanon.
“Palestine is the most dangerous country for journalists, recording a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years,” RSF said in its annual report, which covers data up to December 1.
The organization has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for “war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army.”
It said that in total “more than 145” journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023, with 35 of them working at the time of their deaths, RSF said.
It described the number of killings as “an unprecedented bloodbath.”
In a separate report published Tuesday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that 104 journalists were killed worldwide in 2024, with more than half of them in Gaza.
The figures differ between the IFJ and RSF due to two different methodologies used in calculating the toll.
RSF only includes journalists whose deaths have been “proven to be directly related to their professional activity.”
Israel denies that it intentionally harms journalists but admits that some have been killed in air strikes on military targets.
“We don’t accept these figures. We don’t believe they are correct,” Israeli government spokesman David Mercer told a press conference on Wednesday.
After Gaza, the deadliest places for journalists in 2024 were Pakistan with seven deaths, followed by Bangladesh and Mexico with five each.
In 2023, the number of journalists killed worldwide stood at 45 in the same January-December period.
As of December 1, there were 550 journalists imprisoned worldwide, compared to 513 last year, according to RSF figures.
The three countries with the highest numbers of detained journalists are China (124, including 11 in Hong Kong), Myanmar (61), and Israel (41).
Furthermore, 55 journalists are currently being held hostage, including two abducted in 2024. Nearly half — 25 in total — are in the hands of the Daesh group.
In addition, 95 journalists are reported missing, including four new cases reported in 2024.
54 journalists killed in 2024, a third by Israel — Reporters Without Borders
https://arab.news/wbksc
54 journalists killed in 2024, a third by Israel — Reporters Without Borders
- Israeli armed forces were responsible for deaths of 18 journalists this year, 16 in Gaza, two in Lebanon
- RSF has filed four complaints with ICC for “war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army”
Morocco denies links to alleged spy arrested in Germany
- German prosecutors said he had acted along with another Moroccan identified as Mohamed A, who was found guilty of espionage in 2023 and handed a suspended sentence of one year and nine months
RABAT: Moroccan authorities denied on Friday that they had any connection with a national detained in Germany on suspicion of spying on supporters of a protest group, an official told AFP.
The man, identified as Youssef El A., was arrested at Frankfurt airport on Wednesday and faces charges of “having worked for a Moroccan secret service” by spying on members of Al-Hirak Al-Shaabi (the Popular Movement) in Germany.
A Moroccan security source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP he was a “radical activist” with a “hostile stance against the kingdom.”
The man “has no ties to Moroccan intelligence services and has never collected information for them,” the source said.
Instead, the source described him as “one of the most radical Hirak activists operating in Europe,” with links to a separatist group in the Rif region of northern Morocco.
German prosecutors said he had acted along with another Moroccan identified as Mohamed A, who was found guilty of espionage in 2023 and handed a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.
Mohamed A. reportedly received airline tickets for personal travel in exchange for information collected for Moroccan intelligence on supporters of the protest movement.
Youssef El A. had been detained in Spain on December 1, 2024 in response to an EU arrest warrant and was later extradited to Germany.
A judge ordered him remanded in custody on Thursday.
The Hirak movement emerged in the Rif region in 2016 following anger over the death of a fishmonger crushed by a bin lorry as he tried to recover swordfish seized by police.
It sparked protests demanding development projects for the long-marginalized region, which led to dozens of arrests.
Lebanese boy chokes to death at school attempting viral TikTok ‘one-bite challenge’
- 12-year old dies trying to eat croissant in a single bite, inspired by online videos of people eating various types of food in one go
- He attempted the challenge at Jannat Al-Atfal School
BEIRUT: A Lebanese schoolboy choked to death at school while attempting a food challenge that has gone viral on video-hosting platform TikTok.
Lebanese media reported on Friday that 12-year-old Joe Skaff died as he tried to eat a croissant in a single bite. He was said to have been inspired by the online “one-bite challenge” in which people post videos of themselves cramming various foods into their mouths to eat them in one go.
He attempted the challenge at Jannat Al-Atfal School in Keserwan, north of Beirut but began to choke on the pastry and was unable to breathe.
The school said: “With hearts filled with grief and sorrow, we mourn the death of our dear son and sixth-grader Joe Skaff. Today, during the first break, Joe was exposed to a sudden tragic accident where he suffocated while eating.”
Teachers and a licensed school nurse tried to help the youngster and clear the blockage before an ambulance arrived to take him to hospital but “attempts to save him were unsuccessful.”
The school added: “Joe was a special child with a bright personality and great kindness, and he was loved by his peers and all members of our school community.”
Aid agencies: Will take $80bn and 40 years to rebuild Gaza Strip
Rebuilding homes and infrastructure after Israel’s 15-month war on Gaza could take 40 years and cost more than $80 billion, aid agencies said on Friday.
The war has transformed the enclave into a rubble-strewn wasteland with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris. Major roads have been plowed up. Critical water and electricity infrastructure is in ruins. Most hospitals no longer function.
The full extent of the damage will be known only when the fighting ends on Sunday and inspectors have full access. The most heavily destroyed part of Gaza, in the north, has been sealed off and largely depopulated by Israeli forces in an operation that began last October.
Using satellite data, the UN estimates that 70 percent of structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes.
Before anything can be rebuilt, the rubble must be removed — a staggering task in itself.
The war has littered Gaza with over 50 million tonnes of rubble, about 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. With over 100 trucks working full time, it would take 15 years to clear.
“I can’t think of any parallel, in terms of the severity of damage, for an enclave or a country or a people,” said Corey Scher of the Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The first target for aid is the health sector, with more than 80 percent of Gaza’s health facilities damaged or destroyed.
The World Health Organization said on Friday it would start by bringing prefabricated hospitals into the enclave and medically evacuating over 12,000 patients, a third of them children.
South Sudan declares nighttime curfew after looting in capital
- The riots followed the alleged killing of South Sudanese people by members of Sudan’s military and allied groups in the city of Wad Madani in Sudan’s Al-Jazira region
JUBA: South Sudan’s police imposed a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Friday after a night of deadly rioting in the capital over the alleged killing of South Sudanese people by the army and allied groups in Sudan.
In a broadcast on state television, police chief Abraham Peter Manyuat said the curfew would continue until further notice from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily to try to restore security and prevent the destruction of property.
“The police will not tolerate any violations,” he said.
The police said in a statement that at least three people had been killed and seven wounded on Thursday night in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, some by bullets and machetes, when youths in several suburbs looted and vandalized shops of Sudanese people.
BACKGROUND
Police said at least three people had been killed and seven wounded on Thursday night in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, some by bullets and machetes, when youths in several suburbs looted and vandalized shops.
In Aweil, near the border with Sudan, three houses belonging to Sudanese people were burned, the police added.
On Friday, shops in many Juba suburbs were closed as police and other security forces tried to relocate Sudanese people to safer areas due to fears rioters could attack them.
The riots followed the alleged killing of South Sudanese people by members of Sudan’s military and allied groups in the city of Wad Madani in Sudan’s Al-Jazira region.
On Tuesday, the Sudanese army condemned what it called “individual violations” in Al-Jazira after human rights groups blamed it and its allies for ethnically targeted attacks against civilians accused of supporting the Rapid Support Forces.
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Sudan’s ambassador over the alleged killings earlier this week, and President Salva Kiir Mayardit called for calm.
“We mustn’t allow anger to cloud our judgment or turn against Sudanese traders and refugees currently residing in our country,” his office said in a statement.
Macron says two French-Israelis among first hostages to be freed by Hamas
- “Our fellow citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are on the list of 33 hostages to be freed,” Macron said
- The French president is set to meet with the families of the two Franco-Israeli hostages “very soon“
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said that French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of hostages due to be freed by Hamas following a ceasefire with Israel.
Macron’s announcement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the release of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel is expected to begin on Sunday.
“Our fellow citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are on the list of 33 hostages to be freed in the first phase of the Gaza accord,” Macron said in a social media post.
“We remain mobilized without pause to ensure their return to their families,” he wrote.
The French president is set to meet with the families of the two Franco-Israeli hostages “very soon,” according to his entourage.
Yahalomi, who turned 50 in captivity, was kidnapped from his home in Nir Oz kibbutz.
His 12-year-old son, abducted separately, was released in November 2023 during the first truce.
Kalderon, 54, was kidnapped along with his son and daughter from Nir Oz kibbutz. The two children were released in the November 2023 truce.
