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September 20, 2025 – Yemen –
An Israeli airstrike on September 10, 2025, devastated a newspaper complex in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing 31 journalists and media support staff. The strike hit the headquarters of the Moral Guidance Directorate, which housed the army-affiliated “26 September” newspaper along with two other Houthi-linked outlets. The attack came in the late afternoon as staff were finishing the weekly edition, ensuring the building was full and amplifying the toll.
According to the Houthi Health Ministry, the overall death toll from the bombing reached 35, including a child who was visiting the offices with a parent, while 131 others were injured. The strike also destroyed printing presses and archives dating back a century, erasing valuable historical records of Yemeni journalism. Survivors described chaos as walls collapsed and fire spread through the building, leaving little chance for escape.
Israeli authorities defended the attack, saying it targeted a Houthi “Public Relations Department” that they claimed was responsible for propaganda, speeches, and ideological content. They argued the site was a legitimate military objective due to its role in psychological warfare. However, press freedom advocates countered that under international humanitarian law, journalists remain civilians unless directly engaged in hostilities, and working for media affiliated with armed groups does not remove their protected status.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the strike as the single deadliest assault on journalists in 16 years. It recalled the 2009 Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines, when 32 reporters were murdered, as the only larger one-day loss of media lives in recent history. CPJ emphasized that this attack in Yemen is part of a broader pattern of killings of journalists across Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen, where Israel has often justified targeting by labeling the media as propaganda arms of its enemies.
Human rights groups and media advocates have warned that the strike sets a dangerous precedent by blurring the line between combatants and civilian journalists. The destruction in Sanaa highlights not only the immense loss of life but also the silencing of voices and erasure of archives essential to Yemen’s collective memory. The incident has intensified global concern about growing impunity for crimes against journalists in conflict zones.
Reference –
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/09/19/yemen-journalists-strike-israel-houthis/
Israel’s killing of 31 Yemeni journalists marks deadliest global attack in 16 years
