Israel responsible for most journalist deaths in record year: Watchdog

Israel was responsible for the deaths of at least 84 journalists and media workers in 2025, more than any other country, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which has described the year as the deadliest on record for the profession.

In its annual report published on Wednesday, the New York-based watchdog said 129 media workers were killed worldwide over the course of the year — the highest total since it began collecting data in 1992. More than two-thirds of those deaths were attributed to Israeli military action.

Al Jazeera said that the CPJ said most of those killed by Israel were Palestinian journalists covering the war in Gaza. However, it also reported that Israeli air strikes had killed 31 employees working in Yemeni newspaper offices.

The organisation recorded 47 cases globally that it classified as targeted killings — incidents it defines as murder. Of those, 38 were attributed to Israel.

“Israel has now killed more journalists than any other government since CPJ began collecting records in 1992,” the group said, pointing to what it described as a longstanding pattern of impunity for attacks on the press.

The CPJ warned that the true number of journalists deliberately targeted could be significantly higher. It said reporting restrictions and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had made independent investigations extremely difficult, raising concerns that some cases may never be fully documented.

“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 organisation stated.

Among those listed as victims were five journalists working for Al Jazeera, whom the CPJ said were killed in what it classified as targeted attacks. They included Anas al-Sharif and three other reporters who died in an Israeli strike on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City. Hossam Shabat, a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher, was also named among those killed.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, nearly 300 journalists and media workers have died, according to Shireen.ps, a monitoring platform named after veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2022.

Israel has acknowledged killing some journalists during the conflict but has alleged that certain individuals had links to armed groups — accusations rejected by media organisations and criticised by the CPJ as “deadly smears”.

Beyond Gaza and Yemen, Sudan and Mexico recorded the highest numbers of journalist fatalities in 2025. Nine journalists were killed amid Sudan’s ongoing civil war, while six died in Mexico, where violence linked to organised crime continues to pose a serious threat to reporters.

The CPJ report also noted that four Ukrainian journalists were killed in Russian military attacks during the year.

The watchdog said the global surge in journalist deaths underscored a worsening environment for press freedom, particularly in conflict zones, and renewed its call for greater accountability for attacks on media workers.