RSF: Israel is Third Largest Jailer of Journalists

The Israeli army was behind one-third of all unnatural journalist deaths globally in 2024, according to a report released Thursday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The RSF’s annual report on the state of press freedom highlighted the alarming risks faced by journalists worldwide. It revealed that 550 journalists were detained, 55 held hostage, and 95 reported missing this year.

A total of 54 journalists were killed in 2024, the highest figure in the past five years, with most deaths occurring in conflict zones. Of those, one in three were killed during Israeli bombardments, including 16 in Gaza and two in Lebanon.

Since October 2023, more than 145 journalists have been killed in Gaza, with at least 35 deliberately targeted or killed while on duty by Israeli forces, the report stated.

RSF said it has compelling evidence that dozens of journalists in Gaza and Lebanon were targeted due to their profession, adding that it has submitted four war crime complaints against the Israeli army to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Israel has also emerged as the world’s third-largest jailer of journalists this year, according to the report.

Commenting on the killings, RSF Director-General Thibaut Bruttin said: “Most of these reporters’ identities were easily verifiable, and their status should have offered them protection. Yet, they were killed in deliberate attacks by Israel, ignoring international conventions.”

Bruttin also criticized the ban on foreign media entering Gaza, describing it as a critical blow to press freedom. “In 2024, Gaza became the most dangerous place for journalists, where even the practice of journalism faces the threat of extinction,” he said.

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Israel Attacks Syria 150 Times in 48 Hrs

Israel’s Army Radio stated that Israel made 150 air attacks on sites, dubbed military depots, in different parts of Syria during the past 48 hours. Sunday, and in the light of the departure of the Baath regime, lead by the now ex-president Bashar Al Assad, who was given asylum in Moscow with his family, the Israeli occupation army announced that they are fighting in four fronts: Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria.

Israel increased its “trigger-happy” approach on Syria once it realized that the Al Assad regime has been deposed and an opposition alliance of at least 30 groups lead by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) has taken over the country, starting Saturday, and installed a new government in Damascus.

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Hezbollah: Israel Violates Ceasefire 60 Times

Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem announced, Thursday, Israel violated the ceasefire between the two sides more than 60 times.

Despite this he said the party still wants to give an opportunity for the ceasefire agreement to succeed.

His comments were made in a televised speech in which he said that the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 stipulates that Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon.

Qassem said “Israel has committed more than 60 violations of the ceasefire agreement, and the Lebanese government is responsible for following up on this, and the resistance is giving the opportunity to make the ceasefire agreement a success,” according to Anadolu.

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Naim Qassem: ‘Hezbollah Achieved a Great Victory…’

Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem confirmed that the party achieved a great victory over the Israeli occupation, and stressed the continuation of support for Palestine in various forms, and presented five pledges for the post-war period, including assistance in reconstruction, and completing the contract of constitutional institutions, most notably the election of a president for the republic.

On the third and fourth pledges, Qassem said; Our national work will be in cooperation with all forces that believe that the homeland belongs to all its sons, and we will also cooperate and dialogue with all forces that want to build a unified Lebanon on the basis of the Taif Agreement.

In his first speech after the ceasefire in Lebanon he said: “I decided to announce as a result, officially and clearly, we’ve one a great victory that exceeds the victory of  July 2006.”

Qassem added: “We won because we prevented the enemy from destroying Hezbollah, we won because we prevented it from ending the resistance and/or weakening it…”

Qassem also attributed the victory to the long duration of the Israeli aggression, the ferocity of the battle, and the sacrifices made by the Lebanese, in addition to the American and Western support provided to Israel.

Sheikh Qassem also pointed out that Israel suffered heavy losses in its battle with Lebanon, as a result of the strikes directed at it by Hezbollah, and hundreds of thousands were displaced from northern Israel, and because of the resistance’s steadfastness, Israel’s horizon was blocked.

Hezbollah’s Secretary-General added in his speech that in light of what he called the defeat surrounding Israel, the ceasefire agreement came, which he said was “not a treaty or a new agreement that requires the signature of countries, but rather a program of procedures related to the implementation of Resolution 1701.”

He said that the agreement confirms the withdrawal of the Israeli army from all the places it occupied and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of the Litani River to assume its responsibility for security and for expelling the enemy from the region.” He also confirmed that Hezbollah will coordinate with the Lebanese army.

Sheikh Qassem also noted in his speech that “the agreement was made under the umbrella of Lebanese sovereignty, and we agreed to it with our heads held high in our right to defend ourselves.”

On 27 November, 2024, a ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and the Israeli army came into effect after months of mutual military operations between the two parties due to Hezbollah’s support for the Gaza front after Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa.

On the other hand, he stressed the continuation of the Lebanese resistance’s support for Palestine, and said: “Our support for Palestine will not stop and be in different forms.” In the same context, he recalled when Hezbollah began supporting the resistance in the Gaza Strip, it repeated it did not want war, but confirmed that it was ready if it was imposed on it.

Next stage

Sheikh Qassem spoke about the next stage, and made five pledges for the post-war stage, including assistance in reconstruction, and completing the constitutional institutions, most notably the election of a president for the republic, expressing his hope to achieve this on the scheduled date of 9 January, and said that the party’s presence in political and social life will be effective and influential in keeping with the country’s circumstances.

Regarding the third and fourth pledges, Qassem said: “Our national work will be in cooperation with all forces that believe that the homeland belongs to all its sons, and we will cooperate and speak with all forces that want to build a unified Lebanon on the basis of the Taif Agreement,” adding that “to those who bet on weakening the party, we regret that their bets failed.”

In his speech, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah also thanked Iran, Yemen and Iraq, according to Al Jazeera.

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