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The Israel-Gaza war has claimed at least 137 journalists’ lives since October 7, 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists since 1992. Many were killed amid harsh, life-threatening conditions while reporting.
November 25, 2025 – Source: CPJ –
The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
As of November 25, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 137 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, famine, the displacement of 90% of Gaza’s population, and the destruction of 80% of its buildings. CPJ is investigating more than 130 additional cases of potential killings, arrests and injuries, but many are difficult to document amid these harsh conditions.
“Since the war in Gaza started, journalists have been paying the highest price – their lives – for their reporting. Without protection, equipment, international presence, communications, or food and water, they are still doing their crucial jobs to tell the world the truth,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York. “Every time a journalist is killed, injured, arrested, or forced to go to exile, we lose fragments of the truth. Those responsible for these casualties face dual trials: one under international law and another before history’s unforgiving gaze.”
Journalists are civilians and are protected by International Law. Deliberately targeting civilians constitutes a war crime. In May, the International Criminal Court announced it was seeking arrest warrant applications for Hamas and Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
To date, CPJ has determined that at least seven journalists and one media worker were directly targeted by Israeli forces in killings which CPJ classifies as murders: Issam Abdallah, Hamza Al Dahdouh, Mustafa Thuraya, Ismail Al Ghoul, Rami Al Refee, Ghassan Najjar, Wissam Kassem, and Mohammed Reda. CPJ is still researching the details for confirmation in at least 20 other cases that indicate possible targeting.
Two more journalists were killed and three were injured in Gaza around the time of the war’s one-year anniversary on October 7, prompting CPJ to renew its call for an end to impunity in Israel’s attacks on journalists.
Read more: https://cpj.org/2024/11/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/