Shrouq Al Aila, a Palestinian journalist who has reported from the besieged Gaza Strip amid a devastating Israeli bombardment, has been selected as one of the recipients of the 2024 International Press Freedom Award, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has announced. The award is given this year to four courageous women reporting from war and crisis zones despite extraordinary dangers.
By Matthaios TsimitakisThe CPJ said the prestigious prize will be awarded this year to four journalists, including Al Aila, in recognition of their courageous efforts to continue informing their communities despite extraordinary challenges.
“The four journalists selected for the award have faced extraordinary challenges to continue reporting, enduring war, imprisonment, government crackdowns, and increasing criminalisation of their vital work,” CPJ said in a statement.
The awards ceremony will take place in New York City on 21 November.
In addition to Al Aila, other recipients of CPJ's 2024 International Press Freedom Awards include journalists Quimy de León of Guatemala, Alsu Kurmasheva, who was imprisoned in Russia, and Samira Sabou of Niger.
“CPJ's International Press Freedom Awardees symbolize the indispensable efforts of reporters everywhere to uphold the truth in the face of relentless attempts at suppression,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “In what has been a devastating year for press freedom worldwide, we are humbled to stand with these courageous individuals.”
The CPJ will also posthumously recognise Christophe Deloire, the late director general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), with the 2024 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award. Deloire led the press freedom organisation for 12 years before his untimely passing in June 2024.
About Shrouq Al Aila
A journalist, producer, and researcher, Al Aila took over as head of Ain Media, an independent production company in Gaza after her husband, Roshdi Sarraj — the company's co-founder — was killed in an Israeli air strike in October.
The devastating Israeli bombardment of Gaza, which began on 7 October, has so far claimed the lives of more than 41,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to the enclave's health authority. More than 90% of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once by the relentless air strikes, which have destroyed homes, hospitals, and vital infrastructure across the coastal territory.
Repeatedly displaced by the Israeli onslaught, Al Aila has continued to report on the war and its horrific impact on Gaza's traumatised residents.
Al Aila and her late husband Sarraj were on a business trip to Saudi Arabia when the war broke out in their hometown of Gaza, prompting them to rush back to cover the unfolding events. Tragically, Sarraj was killed in an Israeli airstrike on 22 October, after which Al Aila assumed responsibility for running her company, Ain Media.
CPJ's decision to recognise the courage and perseverance of Palestinian journalists like Shrouq Al Aila is a significant milestone, given the ongoing attempts by Israel and its supporters to suppress reporting on the regime's brutality against the Palestinian people.
Alsu Kurmasheva (US - Russia)
Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual US-Russian citizen, is a journalist and editor with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Kurmasheva was detained in Russia in October 2023 and sentenced in July to 6½ years in prison for spreading “false” news about the Russian army. She was released by Russia in August 2024 in a historic prisoner exchange.
Quimy de León (Guatemala)
Quimy de León is a Guatemalan journalist, doctor, and historian with over 20 years of professional experience. She is co-founder of Prensa Comunitaria, a news agency specialising in environmental and human rights issues. Her work with the outlet has led to relentless threats from corporate and government forces. In 2017, de León founded Ruda, a feminist digital magazine dedicated to sexual and reproductive rights.
Samira Sabou (Niger)
Samira Sabou is one of Niger's most prominent investigative journalists. Throughout her career, she has been arrested, detained and subjected to years of legal harassment for reporting on governance issues. Sabou, who publishes mainly on her Facebook page, is president of the Association of Bloggers for Active Citizenship, an organisation that defends freedom of expression and the rights of women and young people.
