Israel: Two years of killing journalists and controlling the narrative in Gaza

In two years of war, over 223 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza in the deadliest period in the history of journalism. The Israeli government's systematic targeting of journalists is ongoing, exacerbated by the international community's failure to punish the government. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urgently calls on governments across the world, the United Nations General Assembly and the international community to take immediate and concrete action to stop Israel's human rights violations in Gaza, including the deliberate targeting and killing of journalists. The IFJ also demands that the Israeli government lift its media ban and grant foreign reporters independent access to Gaza.

Credit: AFP.

In an atrocious attack in southern Israel in the early hours of 7 October 2023, Hamas killed over 1,200 people, including 850 civilians in southern Israel and kidnapped around 250 Israelis and foreign nationals. The Israeli government's response was immediate and brutal.

Two years later, the Israeli military government has killed over 65,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including over 223journalists and media workers in the enclave, and has crossed every red line in its efforts to control the narrative.

Killing journalists with total impunity

On 10 August 2025, the Israeli military strucka tent sheltering journalists outside Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, killing five Al Jazeera staff members, including well-known correspondent Anas al-Sharif. Some weeks earlier, Avichai Adraee, the Israeli Army's Arabic language spokesperson, accused al-Sharif of being a member of Hamas's military wing. The IFJ reiterates that the deliberate targeting and assassination of civilians, including journalists, is a war crime.

"Unfortunately, the targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces is not new. What is new is Israel's increasing openness in acknowledging these acts. Since the start of the war, the Israeli military has been smearing Gaza-based journalists with unproven claims of being accomplices of terrorism. This is an outrageous strategy that makes them a legitimate target of attacks according to the Israeli narrative,"warns IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger.

The IFJ-affiliated Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) has identifieda clear trend towards directly targeting journalists' lives, rather than merely harassing or arresting them. Among international human rights and freedom of expression organisations, including United Nations' experts, there is a consensusthat the Israeli government has been committing war crimes for its regular targeting of journalists.

As a result of the Gaza war, at least 246 journalists and media workers have been killed: 223in Gaza, ninein Lebanon, fourin Israel, one in Syria and nine in Yemen, according to the IFJ.

Imposing a media blockade

Since the war started, the Israeli government has been using all the means at its disposal to control the narrative: from censoringcritical media in the country and preventing foreign reporters from entering Gaza to the deliberate targeting and killing of journalists.

The IFJ has repeatedly condemned the Israeli government's reiterated attacks on media freedom and labelled its ban on foreign media a clear infringement of the public's right to know.

"[...] At a time when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising to "recolonise" Gaza, controlling the narrative is as crucial as controlling the territory itself. Colonising also means erasing the ruins, the dead, the survivors and those who tell their stories,"readsan op-ed written by the IFJ General Secretary and published on 3 October.

Unwavering support

The IFJ and its affiliates across the world continue to be unstinting in their efforts to provide support to journalists in Gaza through the IFJ's International Safety Fund, as well as organising rallies to denounce the massacre and to show solidarity with Palestinian colleagues. They also keep telling the storiesof Gaza's reporters so that they are not forgotten.

At the international level, the IFJ, the PJS and its legal team have been gathering evidence about the targeting of Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces since October 2023, in order to lodge a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC). In parallel, and for several years now, the Federation has been campaigningfor the adoption of an international UN convention that would oblige States to protect journalists and punish their killers.

"The Israeli government has crossed every red line to control the narrative of the war and cloak human rights violations in Palestine. As journalists, unionists and, ultimately, humans, we cannot accept that reporters are killed amid indifference, be that in Gaza or elsewhere. Israel must stop killing journalists. Killing journalists is killing the truth and we want the truth. We will continue working tirelessly until the perpetrators of crimes against journalists stand trial," stated Anthony Bellanger.