DayofPal– The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) unveiled a grim report on Tuesday, marking 2024 as a year steeped in tragedy for the press. A staggering 104 journalists and media workers lost their lives globally, with over half of these casualties were killed in Gaza, where Israeli attacks turned one of the deadliest chapters in media history.
The IFJ’s annual report paints a harrowing picture for 2024: by December 10, 104 journalists had been killed worldwide since the start of the year, with Gaza emerging as the epicenter of this tragedy, claiming the lives of more than half of them.
IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger described 2024 as “one of the worst years” for media professionals. He condemned the “massacre taking place in Palestine before the eyes of the entire world.”
The federation reports that Israeli assaults in Gaza and Lebanon have underscored the devastating toll on media professionals, with Palestinian (55), Lebanese (6), and Syrian (1) journalists bearing the brunt. Together, they account for a staggering 60% of all journalist deaths in 2024.
Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on October 7, 2023, at least 138 Palestinian journalists have been killed, cementing Palestine’s place as one of the deadliest landscapes for modern journalism—surpassed only by Iraq, the Philippines, and Mexico in historical peril.
As of December 10, 2024, the IFJ reported a troubling rise in the number of imprisoned journalists, reaching 520—a stark increase from 427 in 2023 and 375 in 2022.
China, including Hong Kong, remains the world’s leading jailer of media professionals; 135 journalists are behind bars, followed by Israel, which has detained 59 Palestinian journalists, and Myanmar detained 44.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Government Media Office revealed that 192 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks since the onset of the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza, further underscoring the perilous reality faced by the journalists.
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