DayofPal– At least 213 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of Israel’s genocide on Gaza in October 2023, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office, making it the deadliest war for media professionals in modern history.
The latest victim, journalist Nour Abdu, was killed Wednesday while reporting on an Israeli airstrike targeting the Al-Karama school in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood.
The school, which had been sheltering displaced families, was hit twice in quick succession, with the second strike reportedly occurring as civilians attempted to retrieve the dead and wounded from the first blast.
In a statement condemning the killing, the Government Media Office said:
“We strongly denounce the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation. We call on the International Federation of Journalists, the Federation of Arab Journalists, and all global press bodies to condemn these systematic crimes against Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip.”
The ongoing war has drawn international condemnation over its devastating toll on journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently labeled Palestine the “most dangerous place in the world for journalists” in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
The organization reported that nearly 200 media workers have been killed since the war began, at least 42 of them while actively reporting in the field.
“Trapped in the enclave, journalists in Gaza have no shelter and lack basic necessities, including food and water,” RSF said. It also highlighted ongoing threats against journalists in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces and settlers have reportedly carried out a wave of arrests and attacks since October 7, 2023.
The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs described the situation as “the worst ever conflict for journalists,” in its recent report titled “News Graveyards: How Dangers to War Reporters Endanger the World.”
According to the institute, the number of journalists killed in Gaza has surpassed the combined media fatalities of major war including the U.S. Civil War, both World Wars, the Vietnam and Korean Wars, the wars in the Balkans, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan.
The report found that in 2023, a journalist or media worker was killed every four days, with that frequency rising to one every three days in 2024.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented a record number of journalist deaths in 2024, with Israel responsible for over two-thirds.
At least 85 journalists were killed by Israeli forces last year, 82 of them Palestinian. CPJ also criticized Israel for obstructing investigations into the killings and failing to hold its military accountable.
Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ’s president, said, “The war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and marks a major erosion of international norms meant to protect reporters in conflict zones.”
Echoing these concerns, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called 2024 “one of the worst years” for journalists and condemned the killings as a “massacre taking place in Palestine before the eyes of the entire world.”
The Center for Protecting Palestinian Journalists (PJPS) has also accused Israel of committing widespread human rights violations by targeting members of the press, saying the killings are part of an effort to silence the Palestinian narrative.
Despite the mounting toll, Palestinian journalists continue to report from the ground amid the destruction, determined to bear witness to a war that has claimed the lives of so many of their colleagues.
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