One year on, Israel’s war conduct exacts record journalist death toll

One year in, Israel’s conduct of the war has exacted an unprecedented and horrific toll on Palestinian journalists and the region’s media landscape.

More journalists and media workers have died in the Israel-Gaza war than in any other year since CPJ began documenting journalist killings in 1992.

Unprecedented numbers of killed journalists

At least 128 journalists and media workers, all but five of them Palestinian, have been killed. All of the killings, except two, were carried out by Israeli forces. These 128 killings include:

• 123 Palestinian journalists and media workers, in addition to three Lebanese and two Israeli.
• 11% of those killed were female, and the majority of all killed were under 40 years old.
• 75% of Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes; the rest were killed by other types of fire, including drone strikes, tank fire, shootings, and fire of unknown type.
• At least five of the killings were targeted murders of journalists by the IDF, four in Gaza and one in Lebanon. CPJ is investigating at least 10 additional cases where the IDF may have specifically targeted the journalists.
• Four of the murdered journalists targeted were wearing press insignia at the time they were killed.

The spate of killings occurred amid censorship, arrests, the continued ban on independent media access into Gaza, persistent internet shutdowns, the destruction of media outlets, and displacement of the Gaza media community, which has severely restricted reporting on the war and hampered documentation.

Arrests and allegations of torture of detained journalists

• Since the war, at least 69 Palestinian journalists have been arrested; Israel arrested 66, and Palestinian authorities arrested three. Forty-three Palestinian journalists remain detained by Israel.
• Of this record number being imprisoned, most were detained by Israel in the West Bank, most without charge under Israel’s administrative detention law; 10 remain in detention. These individuals can be detained indefinitely under Israel’s administrative detention law.
• CPJ has documented cases of five journalists alleging torture and mistreatment while imprisoned.

Impunity and lack of accountability

• Members of the IDF held to account for killing, targeting, attacking, or abusing journalists: Zero
• Number of investigations underway into the killing of journalists or other alleged war crimes by the IDF, due to the IDF’s lack of transparency about the status of investigations: Unknown

Read more about Israel’s sustained attack on the press in the Israel-Gaza war.

CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists)