Israel remained leading killer of journalists in 2025: RSF

Nearly half of the journalists killed globally this year were by Israeli forces in Gaza.Published On 9 Dec 2025Israel killed more journalists in 2025 than any other country, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).Israeli forces carrying out the genocidal war in Gaza were responsible for the deaths of 29 Palestinian reporters, RSF said in its annual report published on Tuesday. It was the third year running that Israel was named the top killer of journalists by the NGO.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Who killed Shireen?list 2 of 4Silenced: The War on Journalismlist 3 of 4Funeral held in Gaza for journalist killed in Israeli strikelist 4 of 4Gaza Tribunal calls for ‘Israeli perpetrators and enablers’ to face justiceend of listOverall, 67 journalists were killed around the world this year, one more than in 2024.“This is where the hatred of journalists leads!” said Thibaut Bruttin, RSF’s director general, in a statement. “It led to the death of 67 journalists this year – not by accident, and they weren’t collateral victims. They were killed, targeted for their work.”Bruttin blamed the “failure” of international organisations to protect journalists in armed conflicts for the rise, a consequence, he said, of a global decline in the “courage of governments”.“Journalists do not just die – they are killed,” he said.Mexico was the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists, with nine killed in the past year.War-ravaged Ukraine, where three journalists were killed in 2025, and Sudan, where four journalists were killed this year, are other highly dangerous countries for reporters, according to RSF.RSF also records the number of journalists jailed for their work. China is the leading offender with 121 reporters behind bars. Russia (48) and Myanmar (47) are the next most repressive countries.As of December 1, 2025, 503 journalists were being detained in 47 countries.