CrossFireArabia
Actress Melissa Barrera has reaffirmed her support for Palestine, emphasizing that speaking about issues she believes are important remains meaningful to her. Her position has sparked renewed conversation around celebrity activism, freedom of expression and the role public figures can play in humanitarian discussions
CrossFireArabia
They wake in Gaza searching for water, for a little laughter, for a ball to chase, for the sea to watch, for a home they can still draw even when it no longer stands. And at night, they sleep carrying a quiet image of another morning.
Perhaps that is why this little girl’s gaze feels so distant. It seems to look beyond the camera, beyond the ruins, toward a morning that has not yet arrived.
A child does not want to be a symbol of war, a witness, or a number in a report.
A child simply wants to grow.
A school.
A window.
A friend.
A sea without fear.
A mother saying, “Go. I’ll see you tonight.”
Perhaps hope is not believing that the world will suddenly become kind. Perhaps it is simply refusing to let its cruelty live inside us.
So when a child from Gaza looks at us like this, let us pause.
There is still a morning in those eyes—
one the war has not yet managed to destroy
CrossFireArabia
The Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalists Association has documented 108 cases of crimes, attacks, and violations against journalists and media workers in last July 2026. These included arrests, beatings, interrogations, detentions, and prevention from covering events, as well as attacks with stun grenades and tear gas, settler assaults, raids on homes and media outlets, and the confiscation and destruction of equipment.
The Freedoms Committee confirmed that 58 cases of detention and prevention from covering events topped the list of documented violations in that month of July, while restrictions on journalists’ work continued as they covered events in the field.
The committee also recorded 11 attacks by settlers against journalists and media crews, including physical assault, pushing, threats, and preventing journalists from carrying out their work, particularly while covering events and attacks in various areas of the West Bank.
The committee also documented 12 cases of journalists being targeted with stun grenades and tear gas, which in several instances resulted in journalists suffering from suffocation while covering raids, attacks, and field events.
Regarding physical assaults, the Committee documented six cases of beatings, in addition to four cases of journalists sustaining serious injuries while performing their journalistic duties and covering events in the Gaza Strip. These injuries included those caused by shrapnel from rockets and shells.
Concerning arrests, the committee documented two cases of journalists being detained, while also recording four cases of interrogation, as part of measures targeting journalists while performing their work or due to their journalistic activities.
The committee also monitored four cases of raids on homes and media outlets, some of which involved searches, tampering with contents, and interrogations of journalists. Additionally, one media outlet was closed and its contents confiscated.
With regard to journalistic equipment, the committee recorded three cases of confiscation and destruction of equipment, along with two cases of deletion of video footage during the prevention of journalists from covering events or attacks against them while performing their duties.
The Committee for Freedoms also documented two cases of journalists being barred from Al-Aqsa Mosque, where decisions were issued preventing them from entering the mosque’s courtyards for specific periods.
The field reports documented by the Committee during the month show that the attacks were not limited to one type of violation, but extended from arrest, interrogation, and detention to physical assault, targeting with tear gas and stun grenades, as well as preventing coverage, confiscating equipment, and deleting footage.
These findings confirm the continued exposure of Palestinian journalists to multiple risks and restrictions while performing their professional duty of reporting and documenting events, amidst repeated instances of prevention, detention, and attacks on media crews in various locations.
The Palestinian Journalists Association demands guarantees for the protection of journalists and their ability to perform their work without threats, attacks, or harassment. It also calls for respect for press freedom and the public’s right to access information, and for holding accountable those responsible for attacks and violations against journalists and media crews. Quds Press
