Israel Strikes Yemen Media Killing 31 Journalists in Deadliest Press Attack Since 2009

Israel's airstrikes on two newspaper offices in Sana'a, Yemen, on September 10, 2025, killed 31 journalists and media support workers, marking the deadliest single attack on the press in 16 years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The targeted papers, Yemen's September 26 and Al-Yemen, are affiliated with the Yemeni army under Houthi control, and the strikes destroyed their facilities, including printing presses and archives. CPJ and local editors condemned the attacks as an unprecedented massacre and a brutal violation of international law, highlighting that journalists were targeted while simply doing their work with "pens and words." Israel justified the strikes by labeling the targeted media offices as part of the Houthi public relations department responsible for propaganda. Human rights groups and press freedom organizations criticized the international community for insufficient response, warning that the attacks signal an alarming expansion of Israel's war on journalism beyond Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, threatening press freedom across the region. The incident underscores ongoing concerns about the safety of journalists in conflict zones and Israel's pattern of associating journalists with terrorism to justify lethal attacks.