A forensic investigation of 219 killings in two years of war points to Israel’s deliberate targeting of reporters to suppress the truth about its assault on the enclave
More than 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave. So who were these journalists? Under what circumstances did they die? And were they deliberately targeted by Israel in an attempt to suppress the truth about what is going on in Gaza?
We’ve conducted an analysis of public databases documenting the killing of journalists in Gaza. The two primary databases were compiled by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). From these, as well as other sources, we were able to highlight a pattern of deliberate attacks on media workers alongside indiscriminate strikes.
From a total of 219 records, we found that at least 88 journalists were actively reporting or on assignment in Gaza at the time of their death.
With foreign media banned from Gaza for nearly two years, much of what the world knows about the conflict and the suffering it has caused comes from journalists in the enclave who continue to work despite ever-growing danger.
Israel has a long history of attacking Palestinian journalists. The 2022 killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, who was wearing a vest bearing the word “press” while reporting in the occupied West Bank, became a symbol of the risks faced by Palestinian reporters.
Using a combination of AI-enabled parsing and manual cross-referencing, we can show three perspectives on the circumstances and patterns of killings in the past 22 months.
Smear campaigns and ‘terrorist’ labels
Since October 2023, journalists in Gaza have faced relentless campaigns to discredit and endanger them. The Israeli army and officials have been accused of doctoring images and using derogatory terms such as “Paliwood” and “Gazawood” to describe Palestinian journalists as actors. But more damaging have been the smears claiming journalists are terrorists or work on behalf of terror organisations, which Israel has used to justify attacks and suggest media workers are legitimate targets.
Our findings show that at least 99 of the 219 Palestinian journalists’ deaths we analysed since the war began on October 7, 2023, were described as “terrorists” by Israeli officials or spokesmen.
Of the 99 journalists described as terrorists, explicitly or indirectly, at least 38 were referred to as Hamas operatives or affiliates of the group.
Israel has failed to present independently verifiable evidence to support such claims. However, it’s not just been individual journalists – during the conflict Israel has smeared entire news outlets.
Some of the Israeli accusations and smears have been direct, while others affiliated to news organisations as a whole with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Media outlets have also been accused of having links to other extremist groups.
One of the “terrorist” media organisations is Al Jazeera. As a result of Israel’s smears, many of the organisation’s journalists have been accused repeatedly of having Hamas or PIJ affiliations. As a result, 15 Al Jazeera journalists have been killed since the start of the Gaza war.
The Israeli government has also alleged that organisations such as Al Quds and Al Aqsa have links to Hamas and described anyone working for them as terrorists.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli smear campaigns have broadened to include journalists working for international outlets.
After journalists working for Reuters and AP, as well as Al Jazeera, were killed in August in a strike on a hospital, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement that described their deaths as a “tragic mishap”. Military authorities were “conducting a thorough investigation”, he added. The killings sparked a global outcry.
Hospitals become graveyards for journalists
The data we explored shows that Gaza city has been the deadliest district for journalists in the enclave, accounting for nearly half of the killings. Many of these journalists were reporting near schools and shelters, while 28 died as they reported near or at hospitals.
Electricity needs
One key reason for the journalists working at hospitals is electricity. With power supplies across Gaza cut, hospitals using generators are among the only remaining reliable sources of electricity and internet access. Since the start of the war, journalists have established tents, or a collection of them known as a “media city”, at Al Shifa, Al Ahli, Al Aqsa and Nasser hospitals.
In May, The National reported that Palestinian journalist Hassan Eslaih was killed in an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital. He had been seeking treatment for injuries sustained in a previous attack and was working – and living – in tents in the compound. The Israeli military later claimed Hamas-linked “command and control” structures were the targets of the strike.
On August 10, Israel admitted to carrying out an attack on Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al Sharif in his media tent in Gaza city. The attack came after weeks of Israeli smears and public threats.
He was known as the “voice of Gaza” for his reporting on the war. The strike killed three other Al Jazeera staff, two freelancers and one other man. The Israeli military alleged Al Sharif led a Hamas cell, an accusation he denied before his death after he received threats from Israel, one of which was published on X alongside a “kill list” image.
Where were they killed?
While many journalists were targeted while reporting at hospitals, near shelters, or at schools, the majority, particularly in the first months of the war, were killed in strikes on their homes. Some died alongside their families.
It is difficult to determine how many of those killed at home were deliberately targeted or if they were victims of indiscriminate Israeli bombing. A total of 89 journalists were reportedly killed in strikes on their homes, while there were no additional details available about the circumstances of the deaths of 91 others.
Aside from those killed in their homes, the horrifying number of Israeli attacks on media tents around hospitals, schools and other shelters has caused such alarm in Gaza that many people avoid media tents or journalists altogether, fearing they could become a target when strikes occur.
A clear shot: Drone strikes and shootings
Drone strikes and shootings have been the clearest indications that journalists were the targets of attacks in Gaza. Our findings reveal a small but consistent pattern of reporters being killed in military operations, often in circumstances where they were unmistakably identifiable as journalists.
The CPJ is investigating the killing of journalists in their homes, often alongside their families, in Israeli air strikes. While these cases are not straightforward, there have also been numerous incidents of precise, targeted attacks, some of which have been acknowledged by Israel.
We have documented a total of 26 targeted attacks on journalists:
- 23 drone strikes
- 3 sniper shootings
On January 7, 2024, Al Jazeera reporter Hamza Dahdouh and freelance journalist Mustafa Thuraya were documenting the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a home in Al Nasr, north of Rafah. More than 10 journalists were present at the site. Witnesses said Thuraya used a commercial drone for no more than five minutes to film the damage, before leaving.
As the group dispersed, an Israeli drone launched two missiles. The first hit a car carrying journalists from Palestine Today TV. Seven minutes later, the second missile struck the car carrying Dahdouh, Thuraya, journalist Hazem Rajab and driver Qusai Salem. Dahdouh, Thuraya and Salem were killed instantly. Rajab survived, but suffered serious injuries.
The Israeli military later claimed the strike was justified, alleging that Thuraya was a Hamas commander and that Dahdouh was linked to the PIJ. But none of this evidence has been independently verified and some news organisations, including Al Jazeera, have accused Israeli authorities of fabricating evidence to link their staff to the two militant groups.
Press freedom organisations condemned the attacks as assassinations. The CPJ described the strike as “a deliberate attack designed to intimidate the press”, while human rights groups warned that the repeated targeting of clearly identified media workers could constitute a war crime under international law.
Who they were
Behind the statistics are the lives of reporters, photographers, producers and aides who documented the darkest moments of the Gaza war.
At least 50 of the 219 in our analysis were women. Despite the additional hardships and dangers many women face while working in war zones, these journalists often take significant risks alongside their male colleagues.
Pattern of impunity
Nearly two years into the war, Gaza has become the most dangerous place in the world for journalists. No other conflict has been compared in relation to the scale or intensity of media killings.
The pattern is clear: systematic smears, strikes on known media sites and precision attacks on reporters in the field. Unless efforts are made to hold Israel to account, the killing of journalists in Gaza risks becoming normalised.