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The Morning Lead
'There is no safe haven': Over 60 journalists killed since start of Israel-Hamas conflict
The conflict is one of the deadliest for journalists in history.
MORE THAN SIXTY journalists have been killed since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in October, in what is becoming one of the deadliest-ever conflicts for reporters.
Tallies counted by NGOs including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) state that dozens of media workers have been killed since the conflict began more than two months ago.
The vast majority of those killed so far are reported to be Palestinian (56), though four Israelis and three Lebanese journalists are also among the dead. Several others are reported to have been seriously injured or missing.
Another count by media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last week said 58 journalists had been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes, 14 of them in the line of duty.
Almost 20,000 people have been killed in the conflict to date, including 18,400 Gazans during Israel’s offensive into the Palestinian enclave – the majority of them civilians – and 1,200 people during the initial attack by Hamas on 7 October.
“International journalists are banned from entering Gaza. Reporters there have no safe refuge and no way of leaving. They are being killed one after another,” Jonathan Dagher Head of RSF’s Middle East desk, has said.
“Since 7 October, the Palestinian territory has been subjected to a veritable eradication of journalism.”
The toll of journalists exceeds the number of reporters killed during the first 20 days of the war in Iraq in 2003, and those killed in Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 in 2001, according to RSF.
To date in the 21st century, long-running wars in Iraq and Syria have seen the highest number of fatalities for journalists overall – with 300 and 282 deaths reported respectively.
Last week, RSF urged Israeli and Egyptian authorities to allow journalists to move freely across the Gaza Strip’s southern border crossing into Egypt.
The crossing at Rafah closed after Israel began its war on Hamas and although it has opened in recent weeks, only those whose names were on approved lists have been allowed to leave the Palestinian territory.
RSF also filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November over alleged war crimes committed against journalists since the start of the conflict.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), this week called for the work of journalists during a times of crisis to be recognised and said media workers should not be targeted by parties involved in conflict.
“Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator.
“Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats. Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.”
The CPJ and IFJ have compiled lists of the journalists who have been killed to date, according to their own tallies. They also list the dates on which they were killed. Below are the names of journalists that appear on both lists.
9 December
Ola Atallah
Atallah, a former correspondent for the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency, was killed alongside several members of her family after an Israeli airstrike on Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, according to the Coalition for Women in Journalism, Roya News and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
Mohamed Abu Samra
Samra, a sports photojournalist, was killed during an Israeli bombardment of southern Gaza, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
3 December
Hassan Farajallah
Farajallah, a former executive with the Hamas-affiliated Al Quds TV, was killed in an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and the International Federation of Journalists.
1 December
Abdallah Darwish
Darwish, a cameraman who worked for Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip according to Al Mayadeen and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
Muntaser Al-Sawaf
Al-Sawaf, a photojournalist with the Turkish Anadolu Agency, was killed in an airstrike on Gaza City. A relative told Anadolu that he died alongside his brother Marwan and some of his relatives in an Israeli bombardment.
Adham Hassouna
Hassouna, a freelance journalist and media professor at Gaza and Al-Aqsa universities, was killed, alongside several members of his family during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. His death was reported by the Ramallah-based Palestinian news network SHFA, the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
25 November
Nader Al-Nazli
Al-Nazli, who worked as a technician for Palestine TV, was found dead under rubble a week after his house was bombed.
24 November
Amal Zahed
Zahed was killed along with several members of her family after Israeli shelling targeted their home in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
Mustafa Bakir
Bakir, a journalist and cameraman with the Al-Aqsa TV channel, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, reported by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and the International News Safety Institute.
23 November
Muhammad Moin Ayyash
Ayyash, a Palestinian photojournalist, was killed along with 20 family members in an Israeli airstrike on his house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, according to WAFA news agency.
22 November
Mohamad Nabil Al-Zaq
Al-Zaq, a journalist and social media manager for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Shejaiya in northern Gaza. His death was reported by Al Jazeera and the International News Safety Institute.
Assem Al-Barsh
Al-Barsh, a journalist with the Palestinian Al-Ray radio station, was killed by an Israeli sniper in the Al-Saftawi area in northern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and Al Jazeera.
21 November
Jamal Hanieh
Hanieh, an editor at Amwaj Sports Media Network who also worked as a radio presenter and sound engineer, was killed in an Israeli bombardment on Gaza City, according to Amwaj and Aljadeed TV.
20 November
Ayat Al-Khaddura
Al-Khaddura, a digital journalist and podcaster, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza City according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate. Throughout the conflict, she had covered the ongoing situation in Gaza on social media.
19 November
Bilal Jadallah
Jadallah, director-general of Press House in Gaza, an NGO which supports the development of independent Palestinian media, was killed in his car during an Israeli airstrike according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and Al Qahera.
18 November
Moseab Ashour
Ashour, a photographer, was killed in an attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp. His death was only reported on 18 November after his body was discovered, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, TRT Arabi, and the Anadolu Agency.
Mustafa Al-Sawaf
El Sawaf, an analyst who contributed to local news website MSDR News, was killed after an Israeli airstrike struck his home in Shawa Square, Gaza City. He died along with his wife and two of his sons, according to the Lebanese press freedom group SKeyes, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, and the Egyptian Youm7.
Amr Abu Hayya
Abu Hayahd, a media worker in the broadcast department of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in a strike in Gaza, according to the Jordan-based Roya News and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
Saary Mansour
Mansour, director of the Quds News Network, was killed during an airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the Cairo-based Elwatan news, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Al-Jazeera, and the Anadolu Agency.
Hassouneh Salim
Salim, a colleague and friend of Mansour’s at the Quds News Network, was also killed in the strike on the Bureij refugee camp. His death was likewise reported by Elwatan news, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Al-Jazeera, and Anadolu Agency.
Abdelhalim Awad
Awad, a Palestinian media worker and driver for Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in an airstrike on his home in the Gaza Strip. He was reported to have been working full-time in Khan Yunis since the beginning of the war but had left to visit his family the week before his death, which was reported by the UK-based Al-Ghad TV, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, and press freedom group SKeyes.
13 November
Ahmed Fatmah
Fatmah, a photographer for Al Qahera News TV in Egypt and a media worker for Press House-Palestine, was killed in a strike in Gaza, according to Al Qahera News TV, the Palestinians Journalists Syndicate, and the Amman-based news outlet Roya News.
12 November
Mousa Al Barsh
Al-Barsh, the executive director of local station Namaa Radio, died after sustaining injuries from an Israeli airstrike on his home in northern Gaza. His death was reported by SKeyes, Palestinian news network SHFA, and the Palestinian press freedom group MADA.
10 November
Ahmed Al-Qara
Al-Qara, a photojournalist employed by the Al-Aqsa University who was also a freelance journalist, was killed in an airstrike at the entrance of Khuza’a town, located east of Khan Yunis. His death was reported by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and the Cairo-based Al-Dostor newspaper.
7 November
Yahya Abu Munie
Abu Munie, a journalist with Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa radio station, was killed in a strike in the Gaza strip, according to the Jordanian outlet Roya News, Al-Jazeera, and SKeyes.
Mohammad Abu Hasira
Abu Hassira, who worked for the Wafa news agency, was killed alongside 42 of his family members following an airstrike on his home. His death was reported by his employer, The New Arab and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
6 November
Mohammed Al Jajeh
Al Jajeh, an employee of Press House-Palestine, was killed alongside his wife and two daughters in an airstrike on his home in the Al-Naser neighborhood in Gaza City. His death was reported by The New Arab, SKeyes, and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
2 November
Mohammad Abu Hatab
Abu Hatab, a correspondent for the Palestinian Authority-funded broadcaster Palestine TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis alongside 11 members of his family. His death was reported by Wafa and Roya News.
Mohammed Bayyari
Bayyari, a Palestinian journalist with the Al-Aqsa TV channel, died in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, according to Roya News, Wafa, and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate
Iyad Matar
Matar, a journalist with Al-Aqsa TV, was killed alongside his mother following an Israeli airstrike, according to Roya News and the local channel Palestine Today.
1 November
Majd Fadl Arandas
Arandas was a member of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate who was also employed by news website Al-Jamaheer, and was killed following an airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and SKeyes.
31 October
Imad Al-Wahidi
Al-Wahidi, a media worker and administrator for the Palestinian Authority-run Palestine TV channel, was killed with his family members in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued by the channel, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency WAFA, and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
Majed Kashko
Kashko, a media worker and the office director of the Palestinian Authority-run Palestine TV channel, was killed with his family members in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued by the channel, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency WAFA, and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
30 October
Nazmi Al-Nadim
Al-Nadim, a deputy director of finance and administration for Palestine TV, was killed with members of his family in an air strike on his home in Zeitoun area, eastern Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa and Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency.
27 October
Yasser Abu Namous
Palestinian journalist Yasser Abu Namous of Al-Sahel media organisation was killed in an air strike on his family home in Khan Yunis, Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, Al-Jazeera, and the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds network.
26 October
Duaa Sharaf
Palestinian journalist Sharaf, host for the Hamas-affiliated Radio Al-Aqsa, was killed with her child in an air strike on her home in the Yarmouk neighbourhood in Gaza, according to Anadolu Agency and Middle East Monitor.
25 October
Saed Al-Halabi
Al-Halabi, a journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, the Palestinian press freedom group MADA, and Al-Jazeera.
Ahmed Abu Mhadi
A journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, Mhadi was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and Youm7.
Salma Mkhaimer
Mkhaimer, a freelance journalist, was killed alongside her child in an Israeli air strike in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the independent Egyptian online newspaper Mada Masr.
23 October
Mohammed Imad Labad
Labad, a journalist for the Al Resalah news website, was killed in an Israeli air strike on the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, according to RT Arabic and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.
22 October
Roshdi Sarraj
Sarraj, a journalist and co-founder of Ain Media, a Palestinian company specialising in professional media services, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa and Sky News.
20 October
Roee Idan
Israeli journalist Idan was declared dead on 20 October after his body was recovered, according to The Times of Israel and the International Federation of Journalists.
Idan, a photographer for the Israeli newspaper Ynet, was initially reported missing when his wife and daughter were killed in the Hamas attack on 7 October on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. CPJ confirmed that he was working on the day of the attack.
Mohammed Ali
Ali, a journalist from Al-Shabab Radio (Youth Radio), was killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Cairo-based Al-Dostor newspaper.
19 October
Khalil Abu Aathra
Abu Aathra, a videographer for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed along with his brother in an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, as reported by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Amman-based news outlet Roya News.
18 October
Sameeh Al-Nady
Al-Nady, a journalist and director for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Palestinian press agency Safa.
17 October
Mohammad Balousha
Balousha, a journalist and the administrative and financial manager of the local media channel Palestine Today office in Gaza, was killed in an Israeli air strike on the Al-Saftawi neighbourhood in northern Gaza, Anadolu Agency and The Guardian reported.
Issam Bhar
Bhar, a journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip, according to TRT Arabia and the Cairo-based Arabic newspaper Shorouk News.
16 October
Abdulhadi Habib
Habib, a journalist who worked for Al-Manara News Agency and HQ News Agency, was killed along with several of his family members when a missile strike hit his house near the Zeitoun neighbourhood, south of Gaza City, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the independent Palestinian news organisation International Middle East Media Center.
14 October
Yousef Maher Dawas
Dawas, a contributing writer for Palestine Chronicle and a writer for We Are Not Numbers (WANN), a youth-led Palestinian nonprofit project, was killed in an Israeli missile strike on his family’s home in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia, according to WANN and Palestine Chronicle.
13 October
Salam Mema
Mema, a freelance journalist, was the head of the Women Journalists Committee at the Palestinian Media Assembly, an organisation committed to advancing media work for Palestinian journalists.
Her body was recovered from the rubble three days after her home in the Jabalia refugee camp, situated in the northern Gaza Strip, was hit by an Israeli air strike on 10 October, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.
Husam Mubarak
Mubarak, a journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa Radio, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Beirut-based press freedom group Skeyes and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.
Issam Abdallah
Abdallah, a Beirut-based videographer for the Reuters news agency, was killed near the Lebanon border by shelling coming from the direction of Israel. Abdallah and several other journalists were covering the back-and-forth shelling near Alma Al-Shaab in southern Lebanon between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.
12 October
Ahmed Shehab
Shebab, a journalist for Sowt Al-Asra Radio (Radio Voice of the Prisoners), along with his wife and three children, was killed in an Israeli air strike on his house in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, Palestinian press freedom group MADA, and the London-based news website The New Arab.
11 October
Mohamed Fayez Abu Matar
Abu Matar, a freelance photojournalist, was killed during an Israeli air strike in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.
10 October
Saeed al-Taweel
Al-Taweel, editor-in-chief of the Al-Khamsa News website, was killed when Israeli warplanes struck an area housing several media outlets in Gaza City’s Rimal district, according to British newspaper The Independent, Al Jazeera, and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.
Mohammed Sobh
Sobh, a photographer from Khabar news agency, was killed when Israeli warplanes struck an area housing several media outlets in Gaza City’s Rimal district, according to British newspaper The Independent, Al Jazeera, and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.
Hisham Alnwajha
Alnwajha, a journalist with Khabar news agency, was injured when Israeli warplanes struck an area housing several media outlets in Gaza City’s Rimal district, according to British newspaper The Independent, Al Jazeera, and the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.
He died of his injuries later that day, according to the Palestinian press freedom group MADA, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and Palestinian news website AlWatan Voice.
8 October
Assaad Shamlakh
Shamlakh, a freelance journalist, was killed along with nine members of his family in an Israeli air strike on their home in Sheikh Ijlin, a neighbourhood in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Beirut-based advocacy group The Legal Agenda and BBC Arabic.
7 October
Shai Regev
Regev, who served as an editor for TMI, the gossip and entertainment news section of the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Maariv, was killed during a Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. Regev’s death was confirmed after she was reported missing for six days, according to Maariv and The Times of Israel.
Ayelet Arnin
Arnin, a 22-year-old news editor with the Israel Broadcasting Corporation Kan, was killed during a Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival in southern Israel, according to The Times of Israel and The Wrap entertainment website.
Yaniv Zohar
Zohar, an Israeli photographer working for the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom, was killed during a Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel, along with his wife and two daughters, according to Israel Hayom and Israel National News. Israel Hayom’s editor-in-chief Omer Lachmanovitch told CPJ that Zohar was working on that day.
Mohammad Al-Salhi
Al-Salhi, a photojournalist working for the Fourth Authority news agency, was shot dead near a Palestinian refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa, and the Journalist Support Committee (JSC), a nonprofit which promotes the rights of the media in the Middle East.
Mohammad Jarghoun
Jarghoun, a journalist with Smart Media, was shot while reporting on the conflict in an area to the east of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the BBC and UNESCO.
Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi
Lafi, a photographer for Ain Media, was shot and killed at the Gaza Strip’s Erez Crossing into Israel, according to the Palestinian press freedom group MADA, the Beirut-based press freedom group Skeyes, and Al-Jazeera.
Contains reporting from Órla Ryan and © AFP 2023.
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