Israel-Gaza War
Attacks on journalists across the region since October 7, 2023
Israel is engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that CPJ has ever documented. Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted, and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. Israel has systematically destroyed media infrastructure in Gaza, and tightened censorship throughout the West Bank and Israel. Inside Gaza, journalists report harassment and intimidation by Hamas.
By silencing the press, Israel is silencing those who document and bear witness to what human rights groups and UN experts agree is a genocide. CPJ calls on the international community to hold Israel to account for its unlawful attacks on journalists; ensure international media is given immediate, independent access to Gaza; and open humanitarian corridors for journalists.
Figures include war-related killings of journalists and media workers in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, and Israel. For more information behind the number of killed journalists, see journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war.
Journalists are facing surging settler violence in the occupied West Bank
So far in 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented 11 attack incidents involving at least 23 Palestinian and international journalists by Israeli settlers — some alongside soldiers — compared with one attack on an Israeli journalist in 2024. Two assaults occurred after the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, an event that journalists say marked as the start of the surge.
(Photo: Reuters/Nidal Eshtayeh)
Voices from Gaza
Palestinian journalists face incredible dangers working in Gaza, including starvation.
Find all the “Voices from Gaza” videos on our YouTube channel.
CPJ in the news
- Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif and 4 other journalists killed by Israeli drone strike in Gaza | PBS NewsHour
- Palestinian reporters killed, international reporters banned – Israel’s other Gaza war is over narrative | The Guardian
- The danger journalists face in a time of war | ABC News
- Why is Israel targeting Al Jazeera correspondents in Gaza? | Al Jazeera
- As journalist deaths climb in Israel-Hamas war, what can be done to protect them | PBS Newshour
- ‘War has come to them’: Israel-Hamas war calamitous for Gaza-based journalists, deaths unprecedented | France 24
- CPJ: Israel is ‘trying to hide the truth’ by targeting journalists in Gaza | DW News
Demanding justice and accountability for the press
- Media access | Called for urgent, unrestricted access to Gaza for journalists
- End starvation | Demanded an end to Israel’s starvation and killing of journalists in Gaza
- Open borders | Urged Israel to allow free movement of journalists in and out of Gaza
- EU pressure | Urged European Union foreign ministers to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement
- UN inquiry | Called on UN commission to investigate murdered journalist Issam Abdallah
- Smear rejection | Denounced Israel’s smearing of killed Palestinian journalists
- UN petition | Submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
- Humanitarian ceasefire | Called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire
The seven journalists were on a hilltop a mile from the closest hostilities, wearing clearly marked “Press” vests and standing next to this car, marked “TV.” (Reuters/Thaer Al-Sudani)
No justice for journalists targeted by Israel despite strong evidence of war crime
There is still no accountability for the October 13, 2023, Israeli attack, in which two tank shells were fired into south Lebanon, killing Reuters’ Issam Abdallah and injuring six other journalists.
Gazan journalists affected by the war
CPJ has demonstrated its commitment to provide practical support to Gazan journalists since the beginning of the war.
In 2024, CPJ dispensed its largest ever assistance grant, disbursing $300,000 to more than 1,800 journalists in Gaza to help them cover costs of food, water, clothing, shelter, and equipment amid excruciating humanitarian conditions including displacement and bombardment.
CPJ continues to prioritize assisting journalists in Gaza by providing crucial support to local initiatives. This includes mental health and psychosocial workshops for more than 100 women journalists and three safe workplaces and shelters across Gaza, where access to electricity, internet, water, and other basic services provides a lifeline to dozens of local journalists and allows them to continue their reporting. We provide these services through partnerships with three local and regional organizations: Press House Palestine, Filistinyat, and ARIJ.
“The war in Gaza deeply affected me as a woman journalist in Gaza. I was overwhelmed and needed someone who understood what I was going through. The psychosocial support sessions at Press House helped me express myself and regain a sense of who I am,”
– Rafah, Gazan journalist
In parallel, we continue to disburse individual assistance grants helping dozens of Palestinian journalists afford emergency costs, such as medical or legal help, in the aftermath of a targeted incident.
CPJ safety advisories
As we continue to monitor the war in Israel/Gaza, journalists who have questions about their safety and security can contact us [email protected].
For more information, read:
- Resources for journalists covering conflict
- Physical Safety: War Reporting
- Physical and digital safety: Civil Disorder
- Physical and digital safety: Arrest and detention
These are available in multiple languages, including Arabic.
Mental health resources for journalists
Resilience/mental health resources for journalists facing psychological distress and trauma, and dealing with violent imagery.
- CPJ: Psychological safety 101
- Headlines Network: Vicarious trauma: A guide for journalists and newsrooms to recognize vicarious trauma and mitigate against it
- Dart Center: Working with Traumatic Imagery
- First Draft: Journalism and vicarious trauma: A guide for journalists, editors, and news organizations
Related Content
Featured photo: A relative mourns over the body of one of five Palestinian journalists killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on December 26, 2024. (Photo:AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)