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PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at ceremony in Yumbo for those killed in the National Strike, including Kevin Anthony Agudelo

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still from Nomadesc.

The Association for Research and Social Action (Nomadesc) organized a gathering on April 28 in the city of Yumbo, Colombia to remember those killed by the state during the National Strike and social uprising in 2021.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project was there to accompany Nomadesc and the community gathered at the remembrance.

Kevin Anthony Agudelo

A Nomadesc video from the day shows one of the PBI-Colombia volunteers standing near a displayed photo of Kevin Anthony Agudelo.

The Associated Press reports: “Kevin Anthony Agudelo wanted to live in a country where corruption was not part of everyday life. That dream motivated the electrician to join thousands of Colombians in a series of demonstrations against the government [that started on April 28, 2021]. He never returned home from his third protest.”

He was 22 years old when he was shot to death by police on May 3, 2021, in the Siloé neighbourhood of the city of Cali.

Killed by a Tavor assault rifle

His mother Ángela Jiménez says: “I took a video of him at the morgue. The bullet entered through the right side of his chest and came out on the left side, went through his left arm. The friends who were with him told me that my son had done absolutely nothing and that they (the police) had killed him, that it had been a rifle shot.”

Human Rights Watch has also posted: “He died of his wounds. He had been participating in a candlelight vigil for people injured in previous protests, two witnesses said. Demonstrators at a roundabout were peacefully blocking traffic when ESMAD agents began firing flash bang cartridges and teargas, three witnesses said. …Human Rights Watch reviewed a photo of Agudelo’s body, with wounds to the chest and arms, which IFEG [International Forensic Expert Group] forensic experts said were consistent with being shot by live ammunition. A justice sector official familiar with the case said initial evidence indicates the police were responsible for the shooting.”

Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps confirmed that these police officers fired 5.56mm Tavor rifles.

The Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) website notes that their company “has been a world leader in the production, marketing, design, and development of unrivalled weapons for over 85 years. IWI’s products are deployed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and worldwide. All of IWI’s weapons have been battle proven around the world under adverse and extreme environmental conditions.”

The Israel Weapon Industries website adds: “The TAVOR Assault Rifle was developed in close cooperation with Israel Defense Forces (IDF). …The TAVOR line of Assault Rifles also been chosen by government bodies as well as military, law enforcement and police units worldwide.”

IWI at CANSEC in Ottawa

In May 2015, the Embassy of Israel in Canada noted: “Ambassador Rafael Barak is pleased to welcome a delegation of 14 Israeli defence and security companies to Ottawa, as part of CANSEC 2015. …The delegation is led by the Director of the International Defence Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Defence (SIBAT).”

That statement concludes that Israel Weapons Industries (IWI) was present at CANSEC. A Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) backgrounder about CANSEC also indicates that an international delegation from Colombia was present, along with the Canadian trade commissioner from Colombia.

We cannot yet establish a date that the rifles were purchased, but a post from the National Police of Colombia indicates that they acquired spare parts for the rifles in April 2018, a few years after CANSEC 2015.

Nomadesc message to Canada

On December 1, 2021, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project posted on social media: “The Canadian embassy @CanadayColombia visits the office of @Nomadesc in Cali to talk about the causes of the protests and learn first-hand about cases of police violence. Nomadesc requested guarantees that Canada does not assist the Colombian police with equipment.”

Then again on June 1, 2022, during CANSEC that year, Nomadesc posted: “We Colombians want no more weapons, no more massacres, no more disappearances, no more threats. No more fear. #StopTheGenocide. We demand truth, justice and guarantees that this will never happen again. Do not send us any more weapons. That makes you accomplices to barbarism.”

Shut Down CANSEC

This coming May 27-28, 2026, 60+ countries, including Colombia, will be in Ottawa to meet with nearly 300 weapons and surveillance companies, including the world’s largest and most profitable transnationals: Lockheed Martin, RTX Corporation, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and General Dynamics.

A wide range of social movements, peace groups, faith communities, non-governmental organizations, and individuals will be mobilizing to protest the CANSEC arms show on Wednesday May 27 and Thursday May 28.

Peace Brigades International-Canada is highlighting the dangers faced by communities from the arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show as part of our commitment to holistic protection accompaniment.

PBI-Honduras accompanies the Muñecas Collective-Arcoíris LGTB Association in complaint about defamatory Facebook account

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“‘I am being affected by the use of my image,’ says Jennifer Cordoba, Director of the Muñecas Collective at @arcoirishn [Rainbow LGTB Association of Honduras].

A few days ago, a fake Facebook account was created using her image, through which defamatory comments were posted on the pages of sexual diversity organisations such as Kukulcán and in relation to the human rights defender Danny Montesinos.

Jennifer, who has already filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office with the support of PBI, is demanding that the case be followed up and investigated, as well as the closure of the account.”

The situation in Honduras

In an update posted on March 12, 2026, Outright International noted:

“LGBTIQ people in Honduras continue to face severe legal and social challenges. While same-sex sexual activity is legal, the country does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil unions, nor does it provide a legal framework for gender identity recognition, despite a 2021 ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordering such measures. Violence against LGBTIQ individuals remains a critical issue, with high rates of violent deaths in the country.

The government elected in 2021 demonstrated some support for LGBTIQ people’s rights. In 2022, Honduras joined the UN LGBTI Core Group. In 2024, a positive step was taken with the lifting of a long-standing ban on blood donation by ‘homosexuals’ and ‘bisexuals’, following years of advocacy by Honduran organizations. The conservative-leaning government elected in January 2026 has not presented any specific proposals regarding the rights of LGBTIQ people.”

PBI-Canada visit

On November 1, 2024, PBI-Canada met with Arcoíris and the Trans Women’s collective Rainbow Dolls. It was an accompaniment of their 16th anniversary gathering.

Criterio.hn has noted: “The Trans Women’s collective Rainbow Dolls [Mujeres Trans Muñecas de Arcoíris] was founded in 2008, with the aim of claiming and strengthening the human rights of the trans woman population in Honduras.”

Photo: We appreciate the time given to us at that time by Jlo Córdoba and Donny Reyes for a conversation, and the hospitality of the Arcoiris community. Afterwards, it was nice to watch together a couple episodes of The Secret of the River (a TV series now on Netflix).

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International began accompanying the Arcoíris LGTB Association of Honduras in 2015.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at first day of commemoration of the 5th anniversary of the national strike

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Association for Social Research and Action (Nomadesc) is marking the 5th anniversary of the national strike and social uprising in Colombia.

Yesterday, they posted on social media: “First day of commemoration. Yumbo has become a space of memory, meeting and complaint. It’s been 5 years since April 28, 2021, and there are still names the country can’t forget. Today we raise our voices again for the killed, missing and displaced young people, because without justice there is no closure, and without memory there is no country.”

Amnesty International has summarized: “Throughout the 2021 National Strike, Colombia witnessed mass demonstrations across the country. The protests made visible the historical claims of marginalized populations in the country.  Inequality, racism, violence and the consequences of the internal armed conflict were key structural causes of the social explosion. …Instead of listening to the demands of the thousands of people who demonstrated, the government of Iván Duque responded with repression and violence to discourage the peaceful protests and ultimately to punish those who were demanding change in the country.”

On this 5th anniversary of the national strike in Colombia, we highlight again the solidarity expressed by the labour movement in Canada at that time.

Click on the hyperlinks to see statements from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Unifor, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the United Steelworkers (USW), the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the Union of Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the British Colombia General Employees Union (BCGEU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

We continue to follow this from Canada.

Further reading

-Nomadesc organizes 5 actions to end impunity on the 5th anniversary of the Social Uprising in Colombia (PBI-Canada, April 25, 2026)

-Questions remain about the use of Canadian armoured vehicles and helicopters during the national strike in Colombia (PBI-Canada, May 5, 2022).

PBI-Colombia accompanies the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó as it constructs memorial to the Mulatos and la Resbalosa massacres

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has posted on social media:

“We are accompanying the Peace community in Apartadó, in the village of La Resbalosa, with the construction of a memorial to the Mulatos and La Resbalosa massacres, as part of the Amicable Agreement with the Colombian State.

We reiterate the importance of remembrance and acts of reparation following the recognition of the community as a victim of the Colombian State.”

The Massacre

PBI-Colombia has previously explained: “On February 21, 2005, the villages of Mulatos and La Resbalosa (Antioquia), located five hours from La Holandita, the main settlement of the Peace Community, were the scene of a heinous crime that, once again, hit its inhabitants.”

“Among the 8 victims of this massacre, 7 were members of the Peace Community: Luis Eduardo Guerra, historical leader and founder of the Community, Bellanira Areiza, his companion and Deiner Andrés Guerra, his 11-year-old son; Alfonso Bolívar Tuberquia Graciano, the coordinator of the Humanitarian Zone of La Resbalosa, Sandra Milena Muñoz Posso, his wife, Natalia and Santiago, their two children aged 5 years and 20 months.”

“The massacre was perpetrated by a commando of around 60 paramilitaries from the Heroes of Tolová Bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) along with troops attached to the Army’s 17th Brigade.”

That article adds: “In the months following the massacre, the XVII Brigade and the Ministry of Defense stated that, given the modus operandi employed, there was no doubt that the massacre had been perpetrated by the FARC-EP guerrilla group.”

Construction of the memorial site

The Peace Community

For Peace Presence explains: “In the middle of the 1990s, as violence escalated and peasant farmers suffered from extrajudicial deaths at the hands of armed actors as well as forced displacements, the people began to organize themselves in order to return to their land and to escape from the spiral of violence.”

It adds: “Conscientiously objecting to the war and demanding their rights as civilians not to be involved in a conflict, the community denounced the use of arms within their territories and committed to a variety of principles in the process (including cooperative communal work, prohibition of alcohol, the non-use of illicit drugs, the no-entry of armed actors, non-use of weapons and the refusal to provide information to armed actors).”

Accompaniment

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó since 1999.

PBI-Mexico meets with Yoreme Alliance about their security situation during visit to the state of Sonora

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has posted on social media:

“Last week, @PBI_Mexico was in the state of Sonora carrying out various activities as part of its international accompaniment of human rights defenders and communities.

We met with local authorities from various municipalities, where we emphasized the importance of dialogue with civil society and respect for the rights of indigenous communities, such as prior, free, informed, culturally appropriate and good-faith consultation.

We were able to meet with members of the Yoreme Alliance in the community of Buaysiacobe, Etchojoa, where they shared with us their security situation as well as their concerns regarding the exercise of their community rights.

We recognize the legitimate work they do.”

Yoreme Alliance

The Indigenous Mayo (Yoreme) people in Sonora face serious threats to their existence, culture and territory. The main risks they face include land grabs for industrial projects, such as petrochemical plants, physical violence and the criminalization of environmental defenders, as well as the pollution of their natural environment.

PBI-Mexico has noted on its website:

“The Yoreme Alliance was officially formed in 2022 by the Indigenous communities of Bachoco el Alto, Buaysiacobe, Cohuirimpo, and Masiacahui.

Its mandate focuses on the defense of territory, Indigenous rights, and the preservation of Yoremnokki culture and language through this alliance of communities, which have adopted the motto of the Indigenous Government of Cohuirimpo: ‘For the respect of people, vegetation, animals, sea, and land.’ Their actions are based on the harms experienced and/or identified by the four member communities.”

Sonora

In August 2023, Aljazeera reported: “According to Global Witness, more than half of the lethal attacks on environmental defenders in 2021 took place in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. Mexico led the way with 54 recorded killings, almost half of them Indigenous people. Around two-thirds of these murders were carried out in the northern Mexican state of Sonora and the southern state of Oaxaca.”

Accompaniment

PBI has worked with the Yoreme Alliance since 2023 and received their formal request for accompaniment in 2024.

PBI-Canada meets with Filipino human rights defender Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos in Ottawa

By
Brent Patterson
-

This morning PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, National Chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), and Rosie Lucente of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).

PBI recently launched a Southeast Asia Project to accompany human rights defenders in the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. This meeting between PBI-Canada, KMP and ICHRP in Ottawa was a first in-person opportunity to connect and learn about each other’s work.

One of the many interesting points of connection was the similarity between the struggles of peasants in the Philippines and those PBI-Canada learned about when they met with the PBI-Honduras accompanied National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) in Honduras last month. For more on this, please see PBI-Canada and PBI-Honduras meet with the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) in Tegucigalpa (PBI-Canada, March 4, 2026) and Israeli military exports linked to eviction of CNTC farming community, violence against human rights defenders in Honduras (PBI-Canada, April 22, 2026).

Another issue of common concern is human rights violations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, military “cooperation” between Canada and the Philippines, and the supply chain – weapons exports and the CANSEC arms show – that enables this violence against human rights defenders. For more on this, please see Journalist, researchers killed by Armed Forces of the Philippines on eve of Operation Balikatan exercise with Canadian soldiers (PBI-Canada, April 25, 2026).

Danilo “Ka Daning”

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP-Canada) has previously highlighted: “Ka Daning, a farmer himself, is a staunch human rights defender and environmentalist. KMP has effective leadership over a total of 1.3 million rural people with 65 provincial chapters and 15 regional chapters nationwide.”

AlterMidya has reported: “Ka Daning is a survivor of the 1987 Mendiola Massacre. He was among the tens of thousands of poor farmers from Luzon who marched to the then Ministry of Agrarian Reform and later to Mendiola. They were demanding free land distribution to the then Cory Aquino administration when the Philippine Constabulary (now PNP), opened fire at the protesting farmers, killing 13 and injuring scores of others.”

In February 2024, PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP) expressed “deep concern about the reported incidents of surveillance and red tagging that Danilo Ramos, chairperson of the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP), has recently faced.”

They further noted: “Many cases of human rights violations, including political killings, involve activists red-tagged by the government. We are outraged that Ramos is facing real threats to his life for standing up for the rights of landless Filipino peasants.”

Attacks on HRDS in the Philippines

In September 2025, Global Witness stated: “Once again, the Philippines had the highest number of murders and long-term disappearances in Asia, with eight cases in 2024. At least six of these attacks were linked to government bodies, notably the armed forces in four cases.”

Global Witness adds: “Filipino human rights alliance Karapatan documented 14 killings of human rights defenders in 2024.”

Between 2012 and 2023, at least 298 defenders were killed in the Philippines (the third highest in the world after Colombia and Brazil). The military was responsible for 64 out of 117 killings of Indigenous defenders in the Philippines during this period.

Ramos in Ottawa, April 29

In their promotion of Ramos speaking at Carleton University tonight (April 29), Anakbayan Ottawa notes: “We will discuss the many struggles imposed upon Filipino farm workers and the Filipino population as a whole.”

Event poster.

PBI-Canada notes Canada Strong Fund, implications for Indigenous land defenders opposed to “national projects” on their territories

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Gwii Lok’im Gibuu, Katisha Paul, Chief Na’Moks speak in Ottawa, April 14, 2026. Photo by PBI-Canada.

On April 27, CTV News reported: “Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced Canada’s first national sovereign wealth fund, calling it the ‘Canada Strong Fund’.”

That news report notes that the federal government will initially contribute $25 billion into the fund.

It also reports: “Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the fund will be up and running ‘in the coming months’, but did not provide a specific date when asked by reporters in Montreal.”

CBC News adds: “The government says the new Canada Strong Fund will work in partnership with private industry to serve as an investment vehicle for the major national projects this government has expressed interest in.”

Canada Investment Summit in Toronto this September

This announcement comes ten days after CBC reported: “Carney has invited 100 of the world’s biggest investors to a summit in Toronto this September. The conference aims to pitch organizations that control trillions of dollars in capital on investing in Canada. The organizations include private investment firms such as Blackrock and some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds, including Singapore’s GIC.”

Major projects recommended for fast-tracking

In September 2025 the prime minister announced that he had recommended LNG Canada Phase 2 to the Major Projects Office (MPO) for fast-tracking. In November 2025 Carney added Ksi Lisims to his list of major projects of “national interest” to be considered for fast-tracking by the Major Projects Office.

LNG Canada Phase 2 would involve the construction of additional compressor stations on Wet’suwet’en territory to increase the flow of the existing TC Energy Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline.

The Ksi Lisims LNG terminal would be fed by the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline that would be built on Gitanyow and Gitxsan territories.

Timelines for pending FIDs

The Globe and Mail reported that “Ksi Lisims is expected to make a final investment decision in 2026” while “industry analysts expect LNG Canada to make a final investment decision by the end of 2026 on whether to proceed with Phase 2.”

Land defenders

On April 14, 2026, PBI-Canada observed in Ottawa the call from Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks, Gitxsan hereditary leader Gwii Lok’im Gibuu (Jesse Stoeppler), Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) Women’s Representative Katisha Paul for Export Development Canada to reject funding and support for the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG terminal and LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion.

On November 13, 2025, we noted that Gitanyow Hereditary Chief Watahayetsxw (Deborah Good) vowed to establish another blockade on her territory in northern British Columbia in response to the prime minister’s endorsement of Ksi Lisims.

PBI-Canada continues to express concern about the safety and security of Indigenous land defenders opposed to megaprojects on their territories in Canada. We are particularly concerned about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Critical Response Unit-British Columbia (CRU-BC). The CRU-BC is the rebranded Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), the subject of a systemic investigation by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC).

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras meets with Agrarian Platform, COPA; expresses concern about violence faced by the peasantry in the Aguán River Valley

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“‘The INA [National Agricultural Institute] has restricted and withdrawn its technical support from the Agrarian Platform,’ claims Yoni Rivas, the organization’s spokesperson, who also warns of a failure to comply with the state agreements signed in 2022 to make progress towards resolving the agrarian conflict in Bajo Aguán.

In a meeting with PBI, members of the Agrarian Platform and the Coordinating Committee of Popular Organisations of Aguán (COPA) have expressed their rejection of narratives targeting peasant and indigenous groups.

PBI expresses its concern regarding the violence faced by the peasantry and the growing hate speech directed at human rights defenders.”

Additional context

Avispa Midia has explained: “The Agrarian Platform of Aguán is made up of 25 cooperatives seeking to recuperate their lands in the valley. In addition, there are associate campesino companies, which total 43 organizations, that seek through different forms of struggle to recuperate the lands that were taken from them.”

The Agrarian Platform has previously stated: “For decades, armed groups paid by agro-industrialists have displaced agrarian reform cooperatives, accompanied by disinformation campaigns that present the facts as simple confrontations between peasants.”

In June 2025, Criterio.hn reported: “Yoni Rivas insisted that the authorities must intervene urgently to stop the violence and prevent more deaths [of peasant farmers], denouncing that many of these criminal structures enjoy protection from agro-industrial sectors, especially the Dinant Corporation. … The Agrarian Platform pointed out that there is concern about the participation of palm fruit buyers, authorized by agro-industrial companies, in the promotion of these confrontations, a pattern that has been repeatedly observed in the region.”

Dialogue Earth has previously explained: “The Honduran government started promoting oil palm cultivation during the 1960s [but] it was really in the late 1990s that production skyrocketed [and by July 2023, when the article was published] the country has roughly 200,000 hectares of oil palm yielding close to 600,000 metric tonnes of oil a year.”

Dinant and palm oil exports

That Dialogue Earth article adds: “Of the total national production, 61% comes from just three companies – Corporación Dinant, Grupo Jaremar and Aceydesa – and their plantations are located where the highest levels of violence have been recorded.”

Dinant is a Honduran, family owned company. In 1992 the company started to enter the business into the Aguan Valley.

Mongabay has reported: “In 2009, Dinant benefited from a $30 million dollar loan to develop its plantations from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, even though the company was linked to waves of violence against land defenders in the Bajo Aguán Valley region of Honduras.”

That Mongabay article adds: “In 2009, farmer groups warned the IFC that a military coup that summer — carried out with the backing of Dinant’s CEO, right-wing business magnate Miguel Facussé, and unleashing a wave of criminal violence that made Honduras more violent than some war zones — meant the investment was high-risk.”

In November 2023, The Guardian further noted: “In Honduras, [palm oil exports are] mostly going to the Netherlands, the US, Italy and Switzerland, with a value of $334m in 2021. Six large companies control the production, and two claim more than half of all exports.”

It appears that Canada also imports some amount of palm oil from Honduras. We will be in contact with the Trade Commissioner Service of Canada for additional information.

Accompaniment

On October 30, 2024, PBI-Honduras facilitated a visit for PBI-Canada with COPA representatives including Yoni Rivas, Raul Ramirez and Wendy Castro.

There was an armed attack in December 2025 that injured Castro, the Deputy Coordinator of the Platform.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Canada supports Quaker “peaceful faithful vigil” at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa, May 27

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) is organizing a “peaceful faithful vigil” outside the EY Centre in Ottawa on Wednesday May 27 starting at 4:30 pm. It is part of their work to show “resistance to weapons and violence”.

Military equipment is used to attack human rights defenders around the world. Armoured vehicles, assault rifles, helicopters, drones, and surveillance technology are the tools that directly affect the safety of defenders.

These “military goods” can include armoured vehicles used to evict farming communities in Honduras, assault rifles to kill defenders in Indonesia, helicopters for “internal security operations” that target defenders in the Philippines and surveil national strike protests in Colombia, armed drones to kill journalists in Palestine, and surveillance technology to track the movement of activists in Mexico.

These tools of repression are often marketed at arms fairs in France, the United Kingdom, Spain, and at CANSEC in Ottawa, Canada.

PBI-Canada continues to make the links between attacks against human rights defenders and the production of military goods, their marketing at arms fairs, and the rules that allow these goods to be exported.

Addressing the supply chain that feeds violence against defenders is an essential component of holistic protective accompaniment and making space for peace, the core mandate of Peace Brigades International globally.

Committee to Protect Journalists: A rising number of journalists were killed by drones in 2025

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Hermes 900 drone. Photo from Wikipedia.

Journalists are human rights defenders – and they are increasingly being killed by armed drone strikes.

In Voices at Risk: Canada’s Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders, Global Affairs Canada states: “Journalists and other media professionals often face the same risks as HRDs precisely because of their work.  Because they criticize authority figures, report on criminal activity, and speak the truth, they are often targeted by governments, paramilitaries, armed groups, criminal organizations, and security personnel. Attacks range from harassment and intimidation to assault, abduction, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture and murder.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented: “Israel was responsible for two-thirds of all press killings in both 2025 and 2024.” This suggests, according to CPJ figures, that Israel killed 86 journalists in 2025 and 85 in 2024 for 171 of the overall 251 press killings those two years.

Drones: A new tool for journalists’ killers

The CPJ then emphasizes: “One clear warning sign in the 2025 numbers is the rising number of journalists killed by drones: unmanned aircraft or small flying devices controlled remotely and with the ability to visually identify targets.”

The CPJ further notes: “The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has committed more targeted killings of journalists than any other government’s military since CPJ began documentation in 1992.”

And the CPJ reports: “Israel was responsible for nearly 75% of the journalists killed by drones from 2023 to 2025.” That means Israel killed 28 journalists in 2025, 17 in 2024 and 1 in 2023 via armed drone strikes for a total of 46 journalists. That’s 46 of the 62 press killings in those three years.

Elbit Systems

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate notes: “Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems is one of the primary suppliers of weapons and surveillance systems to the Israeli military, including Skylark and Hermes military UAV drones, which form the majority of Israel’s fleet of large drones and have been used extensively in Gaza.”

The AFSC further explains: “Elbit Systems’ killer Hermes 450 and 900 drones have been used extensively in attacks on and surveillance missions in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon.”

Along with drone attacks against journalists and media workers, the AFSC notes: “On Oct. 13 [2023], the Israeli military fired 120mm tank rounds at journalists in south Lebanon, killing Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injuring six others in what could amount to a war crime.”

The AFSC then highlights: “The munitions used were most likely M339 rounds made by Elbit Systems, according to Amnesty International.”

Thales

Disclose also reports: “The French armament group sold electronic components and communication systems for Israeli drones for €2m between 2018 and 2023, Disclose can reveal based on business documents. The Thales equipment is likely to be used in strikes against Palestinian civilians.”

They add: “Based on 12 invoices issued between 2018 and 2023 to two Israeli arms industry heavyweights, Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems … Thales sold them operational support systems for €2m for armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).”

Disclose emphasizes: “These are not average drones but Heron TP and Hermes surveillance and attack UAVs, two models which have allegedly been used against Palestinian civilians for almost 15 years.”

Israeli airstrike kills Amal Khalil

CBS News reports: “Amal Khalil, 43, a journalist with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, bled to death in the ruins of a building that was hit in an Israeli drone strike after Israeli forces’ gunfire prevented ambulance crews from reaching her ‘for nearly four hours,’ according to Lebanon’s Union of Journalists.”

In a timeline of the attack that killed Khalil on April 22, 2026 in Lebanon, RSF notes: “16:27: a third Israeli strike targets the house. According to RSF, the strike was carried out by a military aircraft, not a drone.”

Amnesty International has called for an immediate investigation.

CANSEC, May 28-29

Israel, Elbit and Thales, along with the world’s largest and most profitable weapons and surveillance companies, will be at the CANSEC arms show at the EY Centre this coming May 27-28, 2026, in Ottawa.

Communities are organizing to shut down CANSEC.

We continue to follow this.

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