Israeli forces accused of systematic attacks on journalists in Syria

The Israeli military has been accused of conducting a months-long campaign of intimidation against journalists working in southern Syria.

Multiple reporters told the Committee to Protect Journalists that troops have arrested, injured and fired live rounds at media workers in the province of Quneitra, much of which was seized by Israeli forces late last year.

Israel invaded southern Syria following the ouster of the Assad regime in December, capturing hundreds of square-kilometres of land and proclaiming an indefinite occupation.

It has declared much of the area a closed military zone, which it is using to clamp down on press freedoms in the region, reporters told the CPJ.

Multiple local and foreign journalists have recounted coming under fire. Others have been abducted by its soldiers, threatened, and forced to delete their material.

In the most high-profile incident, Israeli forces in May detained BBC Arabic correspondent Feras Kilani and his crew. The team described how they were tied up, blindfolded, strip-searched and interrogated, and had their equipment confiscated.

One journalist said he was wounded in gunfire after Israeli soldiers shot at protesters in the Quneitra countryside in December.

Sara Qudah, regional director at the CPJ, described Israel as the "worst attacker of journalists" in the Levant, pointing to repeated violations in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Syria.

"The IDF's attacks on journalists in southern Syria are merely a mirror of how much Israel doesn't recognize press freedom or the press in general," she told The New Arab.

"Israel must immediately end its censorship, violations, and attacks. Impunity can be no longer the norm," she said.

Mohammed Al-Sattof, who monitors infringements on press freedoms at the Syrian Journalists' Association, told the CPJ that the crackdown is increasing in intensity.

"The number of violations by Israeli forces in southern Syria are increasing systematically, and the evidence suggests it is deliberate," he said.

Israel's treatment of journalists has gained global attention during its relentless assault on Gaza, where its forces have killed record numbers of media workers over the past 22 months.

It drew global outcry on Sunday when it killed famed Al Jazeera reporter Anas Sharif and four of his colleagues in a targeted assassination in Gaza City.

A least 192 journalists and media workers have been killed since Israel began its assault on the enclave in October 2023, according to the CPJ's tally. Ninety others have been imprisoned.