Israeli airstrikes on a newspaper complex in Yemen last week killed 31 journalists and media workers, a report released Friday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) revealed.

The attack represents the deadliest single strike on journalists since the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines 16 years ago and the second-deadliest incident ever recorded by the New York-based press freedom group.

The strikes hit a government press complex at 4:45 pm local time on September 10, as staff of a Yemeni newspaper were finalizing a weekly edition, editor-in-chief Nasser al-Khadri told CPJ.

The timing contributed to the high death toll, which included journalists and media workers at three Yemeni outlets in the capital, Sanaa. A child who had accompanied one journalist to work was also killed in the strike, al-Khadri said.

The Yemeni Health Ministry reported 35 deaths and 131 injuries in the Israeli attack.

'Its loss is deeply painful'

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Israeli strikes on Yemen in recent weeks have caused widespread destruction in Sanaa, killing dozens and damaging residential areas. The Yemeni Armed Forces have launched missile and drone attacks on "Israel" in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli genocide.

Al-Khadri told CPJ that his newspaper’s printing press and century-old archives were destroyed in the attack. “Its loss is deeply painful,” he said. Human rights advocates emphasized that targeting news outlets is not justified under international law, even if those outlets publish political messaging.

“Propaganda is not enough to make a media institution a military target,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch. “They must be actively contributing to military action, for example engaging in military communications.” Under international law, journalists are considered civilians unless directly involved in hostilities.

Israeli attack on journalism in West Asia

The CPJ report placed the Yemen attack within a broader pattern of Israeli strikes against journalists across Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen since October 7, 2023. According to CPJ, at least 233 media workers have been killed. The Sanaa strike mirrored a June attack on Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran, after Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz alleged that “the mouthpiece of Iranian propaganda” would “disappear".

Analysts warned that the strike could devastate Yemen’s media sector, already battered by war, economic sanctions, and inflation. “A lot of these journalists would sleep in the office because they just couldn’t afford rent anymore,” said Arwa Mokdad, a Middle East analyst at the University of Oxford. “If you’re talking about the biggest threat to Yemeni journalists right now, prior to this attack, it was the dire economic crisis in Yemen. Now you’re adding, ‘I’m going to be bombed.’” More than 82% of Yemenis live in poverty, according to a 2024 UN report, and aid has been curtailed since the US halted funding in February.

Intensifying US-Israeli aggression on Yemen

A 52-day US aerial campaign in March killed at least 224 civilians, including 68 African migrants held in a detention compound, according to Airwars. US Central Command did not clarify its targets in that strike.

"Israel" has increasingly targeted Yemen’s civilian infrastructure while claiming attacks on Ansar Allah leadership, striking instead oil depots, ports, and power stations. Ansar Allah retaliated with missile and drone attacks, targeting Israeli sites, including airports. Analysts noted that there is little precedent for targeting journalists on such a scale in Yemen.

Mohamed Mandour, a Middle East and North Africa researcher for CPJ, warned that the lack of condemnation could embolden further attacks on journalists. “If you can kill 31 journalists in one night, you can kill 10 in another day,” he cautioned.