More journalists killed in Gaza than in both world wars, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan combined, according to the Costs of War project.
Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in the deaths of 232 journalists—an average of 13 per week—making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded, according to a report by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs’ Costs of War project.
The report, published on Tuesday, found that more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both world wars, the Vietnam War, the wars in Yugoslavia, and the United States’ war in Afghanistan combined.
“It is, quite simply, the worst conflict ever for reporters,” stated the Costs of War project.
The report noted that it remains unclear how many Palestinian journalists in Gaza were specifically targeted by Israeli attacks and “how many were simply victims, like tens of thousands of fellow civilians, of Israel’s bombardment.”
However, it cited the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which documented 35 cases by the end of 2024 where Israel’s military likely targeted and killed journalists because of their work.
Among those killed was Al Jazeera reporter Hamza Dahdouh, who died on January 7, 2024, when a missile struck the vehicle he was traveling in in southern Gaza. He was the fifth immediate family member of Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, to be killed by Israeli attacks.
A more recent case is Al Jazeera reporter Hossam Shabat, who was killed on March 24 when an Israeli strike hit his car.
Israel’s military accused Shabat of being a secret Hamas operative, a claim the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says Israel has repeatedly made against Palestinian journalists without evidence to justify their killing or mistreatment.
The attacks on journalists in Gaza, where nearly no foreign correspondents have been granted access, have intensified a trend where local reporters—often underpaid and under-resourced—face the greatest risks, according to the Costs of War project.
“Across the globe, the economics of the industry, the violence of war, and coordinated censorship campaigns are turning more conflict zones into news graveyards, with Gaza being the most extreme example,” the report stated.
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