A global watchdog group for the treatment of journalists found that Israeli forces were responsible for about three-quarters of all journalists killed in war zones during 2023. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that 72 Palestinian reporters were killed last year.
“More than three-quarters of the 99 journalists and media workers killed worldwide in 2023 died in the Israel-Gaza war, the majority of them Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza,
The CPJ report concluded. “The conflict claimed the lives of more journalists in three months than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year.”
In the last three months of 2023, Israel killed 72 Palestinian and three Lebanese journalists. Two Israeli journalists were killed in the Hamas attack on October 7. Excluding the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, CPJ found worldwide deaths of journalists last year was less than half of 2022’s total. At least 11 Palestinian journalists have been killed so far in 2024.
CPJ believes some of the Palestinian journalists were targeted by Israel, and the organization is conducting further investigations. The Gaza Strip’s Government Media Office puts the number higher, saying at least 126 Palestinian media workers have been killed. “This war is unprecedented in terms of the threat to journalists,” Jodie Ginsberg, president of the CPJ, said.
She explained that Israel’s killing of journalists prevents war crimes in Gaza from being seen by the international community. “What’s important to remember about this war is that Gazan journalists are the only journalists able to report on what’s happening inside Gaza. International journalists have not been able to get in, have not been allowed in, except on very, very controlled trips that are overseen by the Israeli army.” Ginsberg continued, “So we are entirely reliant on those [Palestinian] journalists, who are risking their lives to bring us this story.”
The head of CPJ went on to express she was “disappointed … at the lack of public solidarity that we have seen” with Palestinian journalists. The Biden administration has denounced and sanctioned several governments over their treatment of journalists. However, President Biden has refused to condition American aid to Israel even as Tel Aviv has ordered the massive slaughter of civilians and journalists in Gaza.
