Israel killed more journalists than any war in world history

Professional entities accuse Tel Aviv of deliberate murders

Israel’s defense force (FDI) has murdered, in less than two years, more journalists and media professionals than any war in world history. The Palestinian Journalists Union estimates that 246 professionals have been murdered since October 7, 2023.

This number represents more deaths than the sum of seven other important conflicts: the 1st and 2nd world wars, the American Civil War, Syria, Vietnam (including conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), as well as wars in Yugoslavia and Ukraine.

Data from journalists killed in other conflicts are from Memorial Freedom Forum that brings together the names of professionals murdered in armed conflicts throughout history, except for the Ukraine conflict, which was calculated by the Journalist Protection Committee (CPJ).

A survey by the University of Brown, United States (USA), has concluded that the war in Gaza “is simply the worst conflict of all time for reporters.”

For class entities representing journalists around the world, Israel promotes deliberate attacks to prevent Gaza’s War coverage, which Benajmin Netanyahu’s government denies.

“Israel is engaging in the deadlier and more deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists, already documented by the CPJ. Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly shot and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work,” says the CPJ.

Israel also prohibits the entry of foreign journalists in Gaza without escort and control of the country’s military, which makes access to information further by the global population about what happens in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Palestinian press

In the second month of the war alone, still in 2023, 37 journalists were murdered in the Gaza Strip. “The Israeli army killed more journalists in ten weeks than any other army in a single year,” said Sherif Mansour, coordinator of the CPJ.

The Palestinian Journalists Union also reported that 520 journalists were injured by Israeli bullets or missiles and 800 family members of media professionals were killed. Another 206 Palestinian journalists have been arrested by Israel since October 2023, of which 55 remain in prisons – 23 in administrative prison, a mode of detention that can be carried out without formal accusation.

“Aerial attacks and tanks attacked 115 Gaza’s range vehicles, covering all types of vehicles. In the West Bank and Jerusalem, they closed five media outlets and destroyed or closed 12 graphics,” added the local journalists union.

Israel denies that deliberately civil attack in the conflict, which includes journalists, as well as justifying some murders by linking journalists with Hamas organization, accusations questioned by professional and human rights entities.

In an exclusive interview with Agência Brasil in February 2024, the then local chief of Al Jazerra in Gaza, Wael Al-Dahdouh, who lost his wife, three children, and a grandson in Israeli bombing, described the journalistic work in the region as the deadliest for the profession of human history.

Attack to Nasser Hospital

In a recurring episode of the war in Gaza, the video of the second bombing, the same day, to the Nasser Hospital shocked the world last Monday (25). This time, Israel bombarded the hospital in the city of Khan Yunes while journalists recorded the result of an attack on minutes earlier.

The attack also killed the rescue team, reaching 20 people killed, including five journalists, they: a Reuters contractor, Hussam Al-Mamasri; Al Jazeera’s camera operator, Mohammed Salama; freelance photojournalist of Independent Arabia and Associated Press, Mariam Abu Dagga; And freelance journalists Ahmed Abu Aziz and Moaz Abu Taha, according to the CPJ.

In a statement, the FDI stressed that it does not target intensive civilian. The Army spokesman accused Hamas of using Nasser Hospital for his operations, which is denied by the Palestinian organization, and said an investigation was opened to investigate what happened.

“The head of the general state has instructed that an inquiry be conducted immediately-to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened. Reporting from an active war zone brings immense risk. As always, we will present our findings with the greatest possible transparency,” said FDI spokesman Effie Defie.

The European-Human Rights Monitor, Geneva Human Rights, Switzerland, suggests that “double shooting” attacks, such as Khan Yunes Hospital, is practiced to reach paramedics, civil defense and journalists.

“This practice transforms rescue places and media coverage into deadly traps, clearly reflecting the premeditated intention to paralyze relief efforts, silence witnesses, destroy evidence and deprive protective civilians,” the organization said.

Anas Al-Sharif

In other cases, Israel accuses journalists of working for Hamas, justifying the murders of professionals linked to large media outlets. In October 2024, six professionals from the Al Jazeera Network, from Qatar, were accused of being from Hamas and Islamic jihad.

On August 10, the correspondent of this Arab TV Anas Al-Sharif was murdered in a tent with other colleagues in front of the Al-Shifa Hospital in the city of Gaza.

In a message written in April for when he was killed, Al-Sharif said he “lived the pain in his details.”

“Nevertheless, I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation, hoping that God would witness those who remained silent, those who accepted our killing and those who suffocated our own breaths,” he said in the message released after death.

In a statement, the Israeli army said the professional “was head of a terrorist cell in the organization Hamas and responsible for launching rocket attacks.”

Al Jazeera repudiated the accusation and pointed out that Israel tries to prevent the disclosure of events of the conflict. “Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices of Gaza, offering the world in loco and without filters of the devastating realities suffered by its people,” the station said in an institutional statement.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor Organization questioned the justification that the professional was part of Hamas, as everyone knew their work in the press.

“Attacking journalists in these circumstances, with full knowledge of their role and clear identification, reflects a systematic effort to remove all means of exposing crimes, paving the way for broader massacres, isolated from global scrutiny,” the organization said.

Fome

Another challenge experienced by journalists trying to cover the war in Gaza is the difficulty of accessing food due to Israeli blockade of the territory and the distribution of food limited by organizations controlled by the United States and Israel.

In July this year, some of the largest news agencies in the world, such as France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press, BBC News, and Reuters, said they were “desperately concerned” with journalists in Gaza following widespread alerts.

“[Nossos jornalistas] They are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families, ”the media said in a rare joint statement.

The AFP journalist society pointed out that since the agency was founded in 1994, lost journalists in conflicts. “Some have been injured, others have been made prisoners. But none of us remember to have seen colleagues hungry.”

The Israeli government has repeatedly denied that there is hunger in the Gaza Strip and claims that the Humanitarian Foundation has distributed food to the population. Tel Aviv’s information contradicts several evidence that shows otherwise, such as images of Men, Women, and Famelica children and reports and reports of organizations that still work in the Palestinian enclave, including United Nations representatives.

Originally published by Agência Brasil on 08/27/2025

By Lucas Pordeus León – Reporter of Agência Brasil – Brasília

Edition: Graça Adjuto