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January 15, 2024 – Palestine/Israel –
The year 2023 marked a devastating milestone for press freedom, with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recording 99 journalist and media worker killings worldwide—the highest toll since the organization began keeping records in 1992. Over 75% of these deaths occurred during the Israel-Gaza war, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists in the 21st century.
According to CPJ’s February 2024 report, at least 77 journalists were killed during the war in Gaza, including 72 Palestinians, 3 Lebanese, and 2 Israelis. These figures surged in late 2023 and continued into early 2024, with additional casualties bringing the Gaza-related death toll to 88. Many of the journalists were killed in Israeli airstrikes while reporting on the ground or even while at home with their families. Several had been identified as press, wearing vests or operating from known media offices, raising grave concerns about deliberate targeting.
CPJ emphasized that this sharp increase in fatalities is unprecedented and deeply alarming. Beyond Gaza, the report noted killings in other countries—including the Philippines and Mexico—though no other conflict zone came close to the magnitude of journalist deaths seen in Palestine. The war has also had a chilling effect on the global media landscape, with independent reporting from Gaza facing increasing barriers due to safety risks and media infrastructure destruction.
In addition to the killings, the report underscored broader threats to press freedom. By the end of 2023, at least 320 journalists were imprisoned worldwide. The collapse of safety in Gaza, paired with rising authoritarian crackdowns elsewhere, paints a grim picture for the profession.
CPJ has called on the international community, particularly the United Nations and Israeli authorities, to investigate the killings and uphold international protections for journalists. The organization stressed that the right to report must be safeguarded, even in times of war. As journalists continue to risk—and lose—their lives to inform the public, the call for accountability and systemic reform has never been more urgent.
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