Report: 99 journalists killed in 2023, 72 in Gaza war

This means that these 12 months have been the most disastrous for the media in almost a decade.

According to CPJ, if not for the deaths in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon, the number of reporter killings worldwide would have decreased for the year, although the number of deaths in Somalia and the Philippines remained unchanged.

This number is the highest since 2015 and represents an increase of almost 44 percent compared to 2022 data.

“In December 2023, CPJ reported that more journalists were killed in the first three months of Israel’s war on Gaza than at any time in a single country in an entire year,” CPJ said.

The 72 journalists killed in the war between Israel and Hamas also include three Lebanese and two Israelis, the organization said.

“Journalists in the Gaza Strip bear witness to what is happening on the front lines,” said CPJ Director Jodie Ginsberg. – Palestinian journalists have suffered a tremendous loss during this war, which will have a lasting impact on journalism not only in the Palestinian territories, but throughout the region and beyond. Every journalist killed is another blow to our understanding of the world.”

On February 7, the New York-based media freedom watchdog reported that the number of journalists killed in the war in the Gaza Strip had risen to 85.

CPJ has previously condemned what it calls the persecution of journalists by Israeli forces, and is investigating whether dozens of journalists killed during the war in Gaza were deliberately targeted by Israeli soldiers, a “war crime.”

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas in response to the Islamist group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to AFP estimates based on official Israeli figures.

The militants also took about 250 people hostage. About 130 of them are believed to be still in the Gaza Strip, of which 29 are believed to have died.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 28,576 people, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian Territory.

Ukraine and Mexico saw the largest declines in journalist deaths, with both countries down from 13 to two.

One of those killed in Ukraine is AFP journalist Arman Soldin. A 32-year-old man was killed when his team of reporters came under fire near Bachmut in the east of the country.

CPJ singles out several countries where it’s particularly dangerous for journalists to work, including Mexico, Somalia and the Philippines.

“The situation is compounded by government agencies spying on journalists and human rights defenders, and the violence has forced many journalists to leave their homes and their professions,” the CPJ report warned.