The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported an alarming concentration of journalist fatalities in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Gaza war. According to the CPJ, the rate at which journalists are being killed in Gaza is unparalleled in modern history. In the span of 10 weeks, 68 media workers have lost their lives, with 61 of them being Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese. This includes the recent death of cameraman Samer Abudaqa, who was killed by an Israeli drone strike while reporting from a school in Khan Younis.
The CPJ statement emphasized that more journalists have been killed in the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war than in any single country over an entire year. Shockingly, 37 of these deaths occurred within the first month of the conflict, making it the deadliest month ever documented by the CPJ since it began recording journalist fatalities in 1992.
Palestinian reporters in Gaza are facing extremely challenging conditions as they continue to work amidst constant bombardment, displacement, and the risk of being targeted by Israeli forces. The CPJ has drawn attention to what it sees as an apparent pattern of the Israeli military targeting journalists and their families. In one recorded instance, a journalist was killed despite wearing clearly marked press insignia and being in an area with no ongoing fighting.
CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg expressed deep concern about the situation, stating, “The concentration of journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war is unparalleled in CPJ’s history and underscores how grave the situation is for press on the ground. Local Palestinian journalists continue to report from Gaza while living in fear for their lives.”
The number of journalists killed in Gaza surpasses that of other conflict zones, including Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, according to the CPJ. The only country that has come close to the current death toll in Gaza is Iraq, where 56 journalists were killed in 2006 following the United States’ invasion of the Gulf country three years prior.
The CPJ’s report also highlights the personal tragedies that journalists have experienced. Wael Dahdouh, another journalist, lost his wife, son, daughter, and grandson in an Israeli bombing last month, and he himself was wounded in the attack that claimed Abudaqa’s life.
The CPJ has announced its intention to refer the killing of Samer Abudaqa to the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing recurrent attacks on the network’s crews operating in the occupied Palestinian territories and instances of incitement against them.
The situation in Gaza remains highly volatile for journalists, and their courage and dedication to reporting under such dangerous circumstances must be acknowledged and supported.
