From newsroom to rubble: Israel's massacre of Yemeni journalists
From newsroom to rubble: Israel's massacre of Yemeni journalists
Essam Moshki was in the newsroom of the 26 September newspaper, in Sanaa’s al-Tahrir neighbourhood, when he received word of imminent Israeli strikes on the Yemeni capital.
Looking back on that afternoon of 10 September, he is surprised that he survived.
“Ten minutes before the bombing, my colleague Murad Halboub and I were in the office. We had just learned that a squadron of Israeli aircraft was preparing to bomb Yemen,” recalled Moshki, a media worker, speaking to Middle East Eye.
Halboub urged Moshki: “Let’s leave. They may target this building.”
Moshki replied that he would finish a phone call first, then follow. Moments later, the bombs fell. “I never imagined I would escape death,” he said.
Amid smoke, fire and screams, Moshki sent a message to Halboub: “I wish I had listened to your advice to leave.”
He thought his colleague had made it out alive. But to his shock, Halboub was already buried beneath a mountain rubble of what had been the newspaper’s office.
That day, 32 journalists and media workers were killed in the Israeli attack on the building that housed both the Houthi media headquarters and the offices of two newspapers, the 26 September and the Yemen paper.
'Heroes who died on duty'
Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen analyst, told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that the strikes were carried out when staff of the 26 September were printing the paper.
It was the first time in Yemen that dozens of journalists had been killed and wounded in a single attack.
The media centre, located on a busy street in a densely populated neighbourhood, was reduced to rubble. The destruction caused chaos as people rushed to pull the wounded from beneath the debris.
'How would killing a photographer in Sanaa bring victory to Israel?'
- Majed, victim's relative
The Israeli military said it had struck Houthi military camps, where operatives gathered intelligence, and the movement's Public Relations Department.
The search for missing journalists and media workers buried in the rubble lasted five days. Once the bodies were recovered, a funeral was held on Tuesday morning, attended by hundreds of people.
Speaking to MEE at the funeral in al-Sabeen, Majed, a relative of one of the slain journalists, said: “My cousin was a photographer who cherished his job. How would killing a photographer in Sanaa bring victory to Israel? The force of the attack was insane.”
His eyes welled up as he stared at the caskets, draped in the Yemeni flag and placed atop military vehicles outside al-Saleh mosque.
“I do not see them as victims. They are heroes who died on duty. This is a laudable ending and will remain memorable,” he added in a low voice.
'Today, no one is safe'
Mohamed Ali, a media graduate in Sanaa, described the attack as “intimidating”.
"The Israeli killing of 32 journalists has been an unprecedented massacre for the media in Yemen and the region. Israel is cruel, and my philosophy is that it is better to be cautious than fearless if your enemy is merciless and unethical,” Ali told MEE.
Sanaa is home to several Houthi-controlled and pro-Houthi media outlets, employing hundreds of staff - including reporters, editors, photographers and designers.
Ali noted that working in a Houthi-run media organisation does not mean every employee supports the movement.
"Some journalists have been working in the 26 September newspaper for over a decade, which means they were hired before the Houthis rose to power.
"So they may not be loyal to the Houthi movement. They are loyal to their profession despite the mounting challenges in wartime," Ali said.
Over the past 10 years, independent journalists have lived in fear of the Houthi authorities. Many left Sanaa, abandoned their careers, sought work in other fields, or continued reporting while keeping a low profile.
“Today, no one is safe. Whether a journalist is independent or Houthi-approved, everyone is anxious. It is the beginning of a harder chapter for journalism in Yemen,” said Ali.
The warring parties in Yemen have turned the country into one of the worst places for journalists, said a report by the International Federation of Journalists in March.
Data by the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) revealed that at least 45 journalists have been killed in Yemen since 2014.
Illegitimate target
The 26 September newspaper, a weekly publication issued by Yemen’s Department of Moral Guidance, which is part of the armed forces, has been running for more than three decades. When the Houthis seized control of Sanaa in 2015, they assumed control of state institutions, including the Department of Moral Guidance.
The newspaper has been promoting the Houthi agenda for a decade. However, it remains a civilian facility, according to Niku Jafarnia, an HRW researcher, investigating human rights abuses in Yemen and Bahrain.
“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',” she wrote in a report.
'Whether a journalist is independent or Houthi-approved, everyone is anxious. It's the beginning of a harder chapter for journalism in Yemen'
- Mohamed Ali, media graduate
Jafarnia said civilian broadcasting facilities are not legitimate military targets simply because they are pro-Houthi or anti-Israel, given that this does not directly contribute to military operations.
Mohammed al-Samei, a Taiz-based journalist and researcher, told MEE that some of the journalists who were killed used to live in the newspaper office because they could not afford to rent a home.
“The bombing of the media facility is a blatant aggression which would bring no military benefit to the Israeli military or weaken or deter the Houthis,” said Samei.
Hours after Israeli warplanes flattened the media building, the Houthis launched a barrage of drones and a hypersonic ballistic missile towards Israel, signalling that attacks on civilian infrastructure would not not deter them.
“No senior Houthi has been identified as dead in the attack on the media facility in Sanaa. Israel punishes the innocent to hurt its enemy. This is futile, illogical and unethical,” said Samei.
