HRW: Israeli Forces’ Attack on Sanaa Kills Journalists

A new report by Human Rights Watch documents attacks by all the warring parties in Yemen on journalists. An attack on a media center in Sanaa, the capital, by Israeli forces on September 10, is one more example of the danger for media workers in Yemen. The attack was one of several that Israeli forces carried out on Sanaa and Al-Jawf that day, which killed at least 35 people, including journalists, and injured dozens more, according to the Houthi’s Ministry of Health.

The building housed both the Houthi’s media headquarters and the offices of two newspapers. Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen analyst, said that the strikes were carried out when staff of the Houthi-controlled newspaper called 26 September were printing the paper.

“Since it is a weekly publication, not a daily one, staff were gathered at the publishing house to prepare for distribution, significantly increasing the number of people present in the compound,” he said on X.

The Israeli military claimed to have struck the “The Houthi Public Relations Department” in response to the Houthis’ recent attacks on Israel.

The neighborhood is a densely populated residential area just next to Sanaa’s Old City, a UNESCO heritage site. The strikes took place when many residents and others were walking and driving through the streets, according to interviews and video footage taken after the attack and shared that evening on X by Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run news channel, and verified by Human Rights Watch. The video, a compilation of video clips edited together, shows streets packed with people and vehicles, damaged buildings, and rescue workers pulling injured people, including at least one child, from the rubble.

Radio and television facilities are civilian objects and cannot be targeted. They are legitimate targets only if they are used in a way that makes an “effective contribution to military action.” However, civilian broadcasting facilities are not rendered legitimate military targets simply because they are pro-Houthi or anti-Israel, or report on the laws of war violations by one side or the other, as this does not directly contribute to military operations. For example, if a broadcasting facility is engaged in military communications, any attack on it is still subject to the principle of proportionality, meaning incidental civilian harm should not be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

The recent Israeli forces’ attack further highlights the threats journalists are facing in Yemen, not just by domestic authorities but also by external warring parties. Israeli forces have deliberately targeted journalists again and again in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as in Lebanon. Other countries should press both Israeli forces and Yemeni authorities to immediately end their targeting of journalists and media workers and to protect freedom of speech and information, which is their obligation under international law.