Israeli Genocide in Gaza Leaves 263 Journalists Dead
Reporters have lost their homes, newsrooms and relatives, and many now file from bombed-out sites, displacement camps and hospital grounds. Because Israel still bars foreign journalists from entering the territory, they remain the primary source of coverage from the ground.
Detentions, missing reporters and a $1 billion loss
Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza Government Media Office, gave the figures to Anadolu. He said 50 journalists have been held in Israeli prisons, and 23 remain in custody.
“Three journalists remain missing: Nidal Suheil al-Wahidi, Haitham Jamal Abdul Wahid and Ahmad Issam al-Agha,” he added.
Israeli attacks have damaged or destroyed 16 satellite television offices, 11 radio institutions, 12 newspaper and magazine offices, 23 digital media organizations, 27 printing houses and five union and rights groups working in media, he said. He put the sector's losses at roughly $1 billion, covering premises, equipment, broadcast vehicles and technical devices.
On Sept. 7, the International Federation of Journalists said Gaza's journalist death toll was the highest in modern journalism history. It noted that it reviews and updates its lists as new information emerges.
More than one in five journalists dead
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said in earlier statements that 27 of those killed were women and that nearly 500 journalists had been wounded. It estimates Gaza had about 1,200 journalists before the war, meaning more than a fifth have been killed.
The syndicate said 60% to 75% of surviving journalists, between 700 and 900 people, have lost their homes or been forcibly displaced. More than 80% of media offices and institutions have been fully or partly destroyed, it said. Shortages of electricity, internet access, protective gear and cameras have forced reporters to work from tents, displacement sites and the areas around hospitals.
2023: first major losses
Anadolu's monitoring documented a string of killings of journalists who were working or sheltering at reporting and displacement sites.
Bilal Jadallah, director general of Press House-Palestine, a nonprofit supporting independent Palestinian media, was killed in November 2023 when an Israeli strike hit his vehicle in Gaza City. He had helped found the Sawa news agency and trained journalists and supplied them with safety equipment.
In early December, Anadolu freelance cameraman Montaser al-Sawwaf and his brother Marwan died in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Montaser, who had worked with Anadolu since 2014, had survived an attack on his family home two weeks earlier that killed his parents and several siblings. He kept reporting despite injuries to his eye and nose. Born in 1990, he was married with two children and had studied journalism and media at Al-Aqsa University. His brother worked in documentary production.
Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa died after a Dec. 15, 2023 drone strike at the Farhana school in Khan Younis, because emergency crews were blocked from reaching him for more than five hours. His family lived in Belgium, but he had chosen to stay in Gaza to keep reporting.
2024: the toll climbs
Journalists Hamza al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya were killed in January 2024 when an Israeli strike hit their vehicle west of Khan Younis. Hamza was the son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, Wael al-Dahdouh, and had already lost his mother and siblings in an October 2023 Israeli strike on a house sheltering the family in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Photojournalist Hassan Hamad, who worked with several outlets, was killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza in October 2024. His brother identified him at Kamal Adwan Hospital by his hair and press vest.
2025: reporters killed in tents and hospitals
Anadolu freelance journalist Saed Abu Nabhan was shot dead by an Israeli sniper on Jan. 10, 2025, while doing journalistic and humanitarian work in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
In June of that year, an Israeli attack killed Palestine Today correspondent Suleiman Hajjaj, the channel's cameraman Ismail Badah and Shams News editor Samir al-Rifai. Youssef al-Nakhala of Al-Watania Media Agency died of wounds from an Israeli strike on May 31.
On Aug. 10, an Israeli airstrike on a tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City killed six journalists, among them Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh. Al-Sharif was widely known for covering bombardment, starvation and displacement in northern Gaza, which endured intense Israeli air and ground assaults early in the war. Qreiqeh worked for local media before joining Al Jazeera; his mother was killed during the Israeli military's March 2024 assault on Al-Shifa Hospital.
On Aug. 25, an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed five journalists as they worked: Mariam Abu Daqqa, Hossam al-Masri, Mohammed Salama, Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmad Abu Aziz.
Killings continue after the ceasefire
Figures from the Government Media Office show the journalist death toll rose from 254 to 263 after the ceasefire announced on Oct. 10, 2025.
On Oct. 12, the office recorded the first journalist killed during the truce, Saleh al-Jaafarawi. It said he was shot by armed gangs linked to Israel while reporting in the Sabra neighborhood of southern Gaza City.
In 2026, the Israeli military killed Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Wishah in April and his brother Ahmad, a cameraman for the channel, on June 20. Others killed include Amal al-Shamali, Anas Ghoneim, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Mohammed Qishta.
Reporting without newsrooms
The war has fundamentally reshaped journalism in Gaza. With homes, offices and equipment destroyed, many reporters and photographers work from displacement tents and hospital courtyards, moving with their families and carrying whatever gear they could salvage.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate has called this reality “journalism without walls,” reflecting the loss of hundreds of journalists’ homes and offices as they keep reporting from displacement sites.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and wounded over 175,000 in Gaza, and about 90% of the territory's infrastructure has been destroyed. Despite the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Israeli attacks have since killed 1,454 Palestinians and wounded 5,090 more, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
