Israel kills more journalists than any nation on record: Media watchdog

Israel is responsible for 84 of 129 journalist killings in 2025 tracked by the Committee to Protect Journalists.Published On 25 Feb 2026Israel killed at least 84 media workers and journalists in 2025 – far more than any other country in what was the deadliest year on record for the news media.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released the findings on Wednesday in its annual report and pointed to “a persistent culture of impunity for attacks on the press” by Israel’s military.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Israel designates five Palestinian news outlets as ‘terrorist’ groupslist 2 of 4Why did Israel jail journalist who witnessed Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing?list 3 of 4Kyrie Irving wears PRESS shirt for Gaza journalists at NBA All-Star Gamelist 4 of 4Gaza death toll exceeds 75,000 as independent data verify lossend of listA total of 129 media workers were killed in 2025, the highest figure since the watchdog group began keeping records in 1992. Israel was responsible for more than two-thirds of the death toll.Most of the media workers Israel killed were Palestinian, but Israeli air strikes also killed 31 staff in Yemeni newspaper offices, the CPJ said.Israel was overwhelmingly responsible for targeted killings, which the CPJ classifies as “murder”, carrying out 38 of 47 deadly incidents recorded globally by the organisation.“Israel has now killed more journalists than any other government since CPJ began collecting records in 1992,” it said in a statement.It cautioned that the true number of journalists targeted and killed by Israel could be much higher because some of the killings could be potentially concealed by press restrictions and humanitarian difficulties that complicate conducting investigations during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.“With much contemporaneous evidence now destroyed, the true number of Palestinian journalists in Gaza who were deliberately targeted by Israel may never be known,” the CPJ said.‘Deadly smears’The rights group listed five Al Jazeera journalists as having been “murdered” in Israeli attacks, including Anas al-Sharif and three others killed by an Israeli strike on a journalist tent in Gaza City. It also named slain Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Hossam Shabat as among those targeted.