Israel–Gaza war tops global journalist fatalities in 2025
Shafaq News- New York
A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2025, with Israel responsible for nearly two-thirds of the total, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported on Wednesday.
In its annual review, CPJ said that 2025 marked a second consecutive year of record fatalities, noting that more than three-quarters of the fatalities occurred in conflict zones. It documented four journalist deaths in Ukraine and nine in Sudan, alongside far higher figures in Israel and Gaza. The report also recorded 39 drone-related killings, including 28 linked to Israeli operations in Gaza, five to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, one to a suspected Turkish strike in Iraq, and four in Ukraine attributed to Russian military drones.
Journalist killings reached a record high in 2025 — the deadliest year since CPJ began collecting data more than three decades ago. Israel was responsible for two in three of these killings, driving the total number to 129 killed last year.Read CPJ’s #2025KilledReport:… pic.twitter.com/hhPZEm0Ztg
— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) February 25, 2026
Read more: Gaza media in ruins: Hundreds of journalists killed
The organization classified 47 cases as deliberate murders, the highest level in a decade, and remarked that no perpetrators have faced accountability. Outside war zones, journalists were killed in Mexico, India, and the Philippines. CPJ recorded at least six deaths in Mexico and three in the Philippines, and highlighted violence against reporters covering corruption and organized crime in parts of Asia and Latin America. In Saudi Arabia, columnist Turki al-Jasser was executed after seven years in detention.
“Journalists are being killed in record numbers at a time when access to information is more important than ever,” CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg stated, urging stronger international measures to protect media workers and uphold accountability.
