The deadly toll on journalists in the Gaza war

Over the past 22 months, the war in Gaza has become the most deadly conflict for journalists in history.

Last week, five Palestinian journalists – Hussam al-Masri, Mariam Abu Dagga, Mohammed Salama, Ahmed Abu Aziz and Moaz Abu Taha – were killed in a double strike on Nasser hospital by the Israeli military, bringing the total number of journalists and media workers killed in this conflict since October 2023 to at least 189, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Other groups put the tally far higher.

Just one week before, another four Al Jazeera journalists and two freelancers were killed by a targeted Israeli strike on their tent outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it deliberately targeted the Al Jazeera crew – the correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who had reported on the war since its outset, the reporter Mohammed Qreiqeh, the cameraman Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal, a crew driver and cameraman. The IDF claimed it had evidence that Sharif was a Hamas terrorist.

The CPJ and other organisations say that this claim is part of a pattern of misinformation – along with other cases where slain journalists have been labelled as Hamas fighters or operatives – and is without credibility.

The Israeli military has prevented international journalists from entering and reporting on the war, and has decimated Gaza’s own media community. Under international law, journalists should be protected civilians, yet the CPJ says that Israel is “engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that CPJ has ever documented”.

“Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. By silencing the press – those who document and bear witness – Israel is silencing the war,” the organisation said.