Journalist deaths in the Israel-Gaza conflict and why they are so significant.
“Do not cry at my funeral.”
This was the final instruction given by Palestinian journalist Mariam Abu Dagga before her death. She was only 33 when she died. Killed by Israeli forces in al-Nasser hospital on 25 August 2025, she left behind a teenage son, a family, and a country she had fought so hard to protect through her photojournalism. Her only fault was a commitment to reporting the truth. In Gaza, the truth is a crime now punishable by death.
Over the duration of the past 22 months, the genocide in Gaza has become the most deadly conflict for journalists in history, with war crimes against journalists reaching unprecedented heights. For these courageous individuals, their daily workplace has become a constant battleground. Under the protection of international humanitarian law, it is asserted that the targeted killing of journalists is a war crime. Nevertheless, since the beginning of the war, the recorded journalist and media worker death toll has reached at least 245, with dozens more injured or missing. Data demonstrated by The Guardian shows that almost 70% of all journalists killed since 7 October 2023 were killed in Palestine.
They are the only voice for their people.
The work of these journalists has compelled them to be both witnesses and participants of genocide, making them frontline storytellers whose perseverance continues to ensure Gaza is not silenced. The narrative of the conflict in Gaza has been delivered to the rest of the world in a way that is notably different to what we have previously seen before in other Middle Eastern conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq. Prior journalistic work had typically been undertaken by Western correspondents, who travelled into these war zones under the protection of the military. However, in this case, the eyes and ears of the Western world have come from within Palestine. Since the escalation of the conflict on October 7th 2023, Palestinian journalists have courageously endeavoured to capture photos and videos and deliver critical breaking news of the ongoing events that are occurring within their homes. Many of them studied journalism in the West and are now employed by major international media outlets, carrying not just the weight of their camera equipment but also the responsibility of being the sole voice for their people. Yet, this voice is not being protected. Unlike their foreign counterparts, these journalists work without the shield of military protection or the vital resources of international press access. Since the Israeli government banned foreign reporters from entering Gaza in October 2023, these Palestinian journalists have become crucial; however, every broadcast could be their last. Each time these journalists step outside of their homes, often filming within the ruins of their own neighbourhoods, and witnessing the deaths of their own families, neighbours, and friends, they risk their lives to preserve the voices of those they have lost. The atrocities and horrors of war are projected to the world through their lenses and described to us through their words.
These journalists are being targeted and killed for their work, yet for some Western journalists, this is apparently still not enough.
It appears that certain journalists and media outlets in the West believe that only their foreign correspondents are capable of delivering comprehensive and unbiased news coverage of Gaza. BBC journalist, John Simpson, wrote: “The world needs honest, unbiased eyewitness reporting to help people make up their minds about the major issues of our time. This has so far been impossible in Gaza.” What exactly is dishonest when a Palestinian journalist captures a father weeping over his murdered babies, or a doctor recognising a bombed patient to be her own brother? What truth is being concealed when a young writer from Gaza describes the sounds of screams each night, and the sight of children who haven’t eaten in weeks, ribs sticking out, eyes watering from the dust and rubble?
This notion that Western, often white, journalists are the only responsible guardians of truth is a painful reminder of the colonial conceptions that still exist. The primary issue with this is that it completely diminishes the sacrifices of Palestinian journalists, many of whom have given their lives to their reporting, as well as prioritising Western voices, which will never accurately represent the Palestinian experience in the same way. Even when Western correspondents successfully enter the area, their work would be impossible without the unseen efforts and assistance of Palestinian journalists and translators. Ironic.
Consequently, whilst they are getting systematically targeted and killed for doing their jobs, with the excuse being used by Israel that all of these journalists are somehow allegedly Hamas affiliates, their Western colleagues remain silent and even critical. In this way, Western media empires continue to be built on the blood of foreigners who are experiencing war firsthand as innocent civilians, delivering critical upd ates and never being credited for it.
Whilst each and every death is important and an unimaginable tragedy, a high-profile case that gained a lot of media attention was the murder of six Palestinian journalists in Gaza City, when their media personnel tent outside Al-Shifa Hospital was attacked. Five of the six deceased were employed by the prominent media corporation Al-Jazeera: Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqueh (on-air correspondents), and Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa (camera operators). Photojournalist Mohammed Al-Khaldi worked as a freelancer.
The Israeli military put forward the unsubstantiated accusation that Anas Al-Sharif was not a real journalist and that he had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas” accountable for firing rockets at Israelis. So far, limited evidence has been provided to prove this claim.
“We condemn the killing by Israeli military of 6 Palestinian journalists by targeting their tent, in grave breach of international humanitarian law. #Israel must respect & protect all civilians, including journalists. At least 242 Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza since 7 Oct 2023.”
Not even two weeks after the attack, Al-Jazeera released a new statement:
“The blood of our martyred journalists in Gaza has not yet dried before the Israeli occupation forces committed another crime against Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammad Salama, together with three other photojournalists.”
Time and time again, the unchecked assassinations of journalists by the Israeli military go unpunished. Additionally, this is not only occurring in Gaza. Israeli strikes on newspaper offices in Yemen in September 2025 led to the killing of 31 journalists and media staff. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated that after the 2009 Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines, this incident was the second-most harmful against journalists that the CPJ had ever documented. In Lebanon, Israel has also targeted and killed personnel of Hezbollah’s media office and journalists from pro-Hezbollah networks.
“It is a brutal and unjustified attack that targeted innocent people whose only crime was working in the media field, armed with nothing but their pens and words.”
-Nasser al-Khadri, the editor-in-chief of 26 September (Yemeni newspaper)
Journalists are recognised as civilians and therefore protected under international law, regardless of whether they are employed by armed-group-associated news outlets. Thus, there is no legal framework in which these Israeli attacks can be ratified. Nevertheless, Israel intends to continue to paint journalists as ‘terrorists’ and ‘propagandists’. To hold a camera or a pen is to be treated as if they are holding a weapon. Ultimately, this shows the power carried by these journalists to destroy corruption with the truth. The legacy of these reporters will forever be remembered, as their words document history, and their sacrifices give hope to a desperate people. War crimes cannot remain hidden forever if the lens is pointed right at them.
The Guardian has compiled a list of journalists who have been killed, a list that is constantly being updated. These are their names.