The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported Thursday that 72 of the 99 journalists slain in 2023 were killed in the Israel-Hamas war, making the last year the bloodiest for the media in nearly a decade.
Reporter killings would have dropped year-on-year globally if not for murders in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon, according to the CPJ, however, fatalities in Somalia and the Philippines remained consistent.
The mortality toll is the highest since 2015, with an almost 44 percent rise over 2022 statistics.
The CPJ went on to say, “In December 2023, CPJ reported that more journalists were killed in the first three months of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year”.
“The 72 journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict also include three Lebanese and two Israeli victims”, the CPJ noted.
Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ chief executive stated, “Journalists in Gaza are bearing witness on the frontlines”.
“The immense loss suffered by Palestinian journalists in this war will have long-term impacts for journalism not just in the Palestinian territories but for the region and beyond. Every journalist killed is a further blow to our understanding of the world”, Ginsberg added.
On February 7, the New York-based press freedom organization reported that the number of journalists killed in the Gaza conflict had grown to 85.
CPJ has repeatedly condemned what it calls persecution of journalists by Israeli forces, and is investigating whether a dozen journalists killed in the Gaza battle were deliberately targeted by Israeli soldiers, which would constitute a war crime.
Israel threatened to crush Hamas in retaliation to the Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which killed around 1,160 people.
Israel’s retaliatory military onslaught on Gaza has killed at least 28,576 individuals, the majority of whom were women and children.
Ukraine and Mexico experienced the highest reductions in journalist fatalities, going from 13 killings to two.
The CPJ cautioned that Mexico, along with the Philippines and Somalia, is one of the world’s deadliest countries for the press.
“Compounding the situation, government agencies spy on reporters and rights defenders, and a significant number of journalists have had to leave their homes, and abandon their professions, due to violence”, the CPJ added.
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