193 journalists killed by Israeli forces since October 2023

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A minimum count of 193 journalists were killed in Gaza since Israel began its war on the Palestinian enclave in October 2023, with some reportedly being intentionally targeted, according to a new report from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), The New Arab reports.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate revealed that in 2024, 91 media professionals, including 23 female journalists, were killed. Additionally, 86 journalists were injured, many of whom later died due to insufficient access to medical care.

The majority of the deaths were caused by airstrikes, drone attacks, artillery shells, or sniper shootings. The report documented 148 cases of journalists being shot, 85 cases of tear gas inhalation and 23 incidents involving military vehicles either hitting or nearly hitting journalists.

In its report, “A Shattered Voice and a Clearer Picture”, the PJS detailed what it described as the Israeli forces’ “deliberate targeting of the press” across Gaza and other occupied territories.

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“Journalists were often treated as direct threats and marked for death,” the report said, noting that 29 journalists were killed by drone strikes within just one year.

There have also been instances where several journalists were killed in one attack, including an Israeli airstrike in December that claimed the lives of five journalists.

The report further detailed Israel’s efforts to hinder journalistic activity in Gaza, including detentions, threats, abductions, and the targeting of communications networks. These actions also included hacking Palestinian content on social platforms. Israel has effectively banned all foreign reporting in Gaza without an escort from its military.

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At least 64 journalists have been detained in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, with 15 subjected to interrogations and 27 facing military court trials, according to the report.

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Most of these cases occurred in the occupied West Bank, where journalists endured 367 incidents of journalists and media workers being obstructed or detained while carrying out their work.

Media professionals also reported being physically assaulted, including being struck with rifle butts and batons, kicked, verbally abused, and having their equipment seized or their recordings erased.

“Some remain in administrative detention without charges or fair trials, while others were temporarily detained and subjected to torture,” the report said, highlighting the forced disappearances of journalists Nidal Al-Wahidi from AlNajah TV and New Press, and Haitham Abdul Wahid from Eye Media.

The report also addressed settler violence against journalists, documenting 27 such cases, particularly in areas around occupied Jerusalem.

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The families of journalists have not been spared either, with nearly 164 relatives killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting their homes. A total of 53 journalists’ homes have been destroyed.

“Many journalists lost entire families, paying the ultimate price for their profession,” the PJS stated in the report.

Media institutions have also been targeted, with 54 organisations being vandalised, destroyed, or shut down. Another 28 face closures or prolonged shutdowns.

This includes Israel’s shutdown of Al Jazeera’s West Bank office in an effort to limit the Qatari network’s operation in the region.

With Israel barring foreign journalists from entering the Gaza strip, the responsibility of reporting on life in the war-torn territory has fallen primarily to Palestinian journalists, who risk their lives daily to document the devastation and alleged Israeli crimes.

The New Arab

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