"Journalists have been paying the highest price – with their lives – to provide the world some insight into the horrors that have been taking place in Gaza during this prolonged war.”
This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 15 January 2025.
The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s reports of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and calls on authorities to grant unconditional access to journalists and independent human rights experts to investigate crimes committed against the media during the 15-month long war.“
Journalists have been paying the highest price – with their lives – to provide the world some insight into the horrors that have been taking place in Gaza during this prolonged war, which has decimated a generation of Palestinian reporters and newsrooms,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg in New York. “We call on Egyptian, Palestinian, and Israeli authorities to immediately allow foreign journalists into Gaza, and on the international community to independently investigate the deliberate targeting of journalists that has been widely documented since October 2023.”
Since October 7, 2023, CPJ has documented at least 165 journalists and media workers killed, 49 journalists injured, two journalists missing, 75 journalists arrested, and multiple other violations of press freedom in Gaza and the neighboring region.
To date, CPJ has determined that at least 11 journalists and two media workers were directly targeted by Israeli forces, which CPJ classifies as murder. A deliberate attack on civilians constitutes a war crime under international law.
CPJ’s data shows that eight journalists were murdered in Gaza — Ayman Al Gedi, Fadi Hassouna, Faisal Abu Al Qumsan, Hamza Al Dahdouh, Ismail Al Ghoul, Mohammed Al-Ladaa, Mustafa Thuraya and Rami Al Refee — and three in Lebanon — Ghassan Najjar, Issam Abdallah, and Wissam Kassem. In addition, CPJ has classified two media workers as murdered: Mohammed Reda in Lebanon and Ibrahim Sheikh Ali in Gaza.
CPJ is investigating about 20 other cases where there is evidence of deliberate targeting of journalists, their homes, and media outlets in Gaza during the war.
When approached for comment by CPJ about the deliberate targeting of journalists, the Israel Defense Forces said that some were members of militant groups but provided either questionable or no evidence for those alleged links.
