More journalists killed in Gaza than in both world wars, Vietnam, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan combined, says Costs of War project.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 232 journalists – an average of 13 per week – making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded, according to a report by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs’ Costs of War project.
More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both world wars, the Vietnam War, the wars in Yugoslavia and the United States war in Afghanistan combined, the report published on Tuesday found.
“It is, quite simply, the worst ever conflict for reporters,” said the Costs of War.
The report said it was unclear how many Palestinian journalists in Gaza have been specifically targeted by Israeli attacks and “how many were simply the victims, like tens of thousands of fellow civilians, of Israel’s bombardment”.
However, it cites the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as documenting 35 cases where Israel’s military likely targeted and killed journalists because of their work by the end of 2024.
Among them was Al Jazeera reporter Hamza Dahdouh, who was killed on January 7, 2024 when a missile struck the vehicle he was travelling in in southern Gaza. He was the fifth immediate family member of Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, to be killed by Israeli attacks.
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A more recent case is Al Jazeera reporter Hossam Shabat, killed on March 24 when an Israeli strike hit his car.
Israel’s military accused Shabat of being a secret Hamas operative, a claim the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says Israel has repeatedly levied against Palestinian journalists without evidence to justify their killing or mistreatment.
The attacks on journalists in Gaza, where nearly no foreign correspondents have been granted access, have intensified a trend where local reporters – often underpaid and underresourced – face the greatest risks, according to the Costs of War project.
“Across the globe, the economics of the industry, the violence of war, and coordinated censorship campaigns are turning more conflict zones into news graveyards, with Gaza being the most extreme example,” the report said.