Five months into the Israel-Hamas war, journalists continue to fall victim to Israel's relentless bombardment and shelling in the Gaza Strip, making it one of the deadliest conflicts for media workers, according to rights groups.
At least 103 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its air and ground campaign on the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 7, Reporters Without Borders (or RSF, its French acronym) said in a Thursday press release, describing the figure as “chilling.”
By comparison, RSF documented the killing of 299 journalists in Iraq in the 20 years after the outbreak of war there in 2003.
The Paris-based NGO reported that 91 male and 12 female journalists have been killed in Gaza while in their homes, offices, in the field and even in shelters. At least 22 of them died while covering the war.
“If the numbers show anything, it is that since 7 October, no place in Gaza is safe, no journalist in Gaza is spared, and the massacre has not stopped,” RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire was quoted as saying in the press release. “We reiterate our urgent appeal to protect journalists in Gaza.”
Israel has been accused by various media organizations of deliberately targeting journalists and other members of the media in Gaza to prevent them from reporting on the situation there. Israel has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming that it is only targeting Hamas.
Responding to an inquiry from CNN on the killing last month of Nafez Abdel Jawad, director of the official Palestine TV in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, the Israeli military said that it “takes all operationally feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians, including journalists. The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli government has banned foreign media from entering Gaza since the war began, under the pretext of security concerns, with only a handful of foreign journalists allowed limited access under Israeli military escort.
In an open letter issued last week, more than 50 international broadcast journalists — including from Sky News, BBC and CNN — called on Israel and Egypt to lift the ban and ensure “free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media.”
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, except for the Rafah border crossing, which is controlled by Egypt.
Since the start of the war, the RSF has filed two complaints, in October and December, against Israel at the International Criminal Court over the killing of journalists in Gaza.
The West Bank, Lebanon, Israel
The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate has accused Israel of systematically targeting journalists in the Palestinian territories, reporting that at least 127 media workers have been killed since October in Gaza and on the West Bank.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the syndicate also said the Israeli military had stepped up its use of drones to target journalists. Further, it condemned arrests carried out by Israel security forces against journalists in the West Bank.
The Israeli army, in tandem with its offensive in Gaza, has intensified raids into West Bank cities, towns and refugee camps and broadened its arrest campaign of Palestinians there in a bid, it says, to prevent an explosion on a new front.
The journalist Bushra al-Tawil was one of at least 40 people detained by Israeli forces in overnight operations across the West Bank on Wednesday, the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
The local Quds news network quoted eyewitnesses as saying that Israeli soldiers had beaten Tawil during her arrest, in the city of al-Bireh, before taking her away.
The latest arrests bring to 7,490 the number of Palestinians detained in the West Bank since Oct. 7, according to the two Palestinian prisoners groups.
Three Lebanese journalists, including Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah, have been killed since October in the cross-border hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in south Lebanon.
Two journalists were killed in Israel during Hamas’ assault in the southern part of the country on Oct. 7, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostage during their surprise incursion. In Gaza, local authorities say the death toll since Israel began its offensive has now surpassed 30,000.
