The International Federation of Journalists says Palestinian reporters paid the highest price in 2025, with 56 journalists killed amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, making it the deadliest country for media workers worldwide.
Palestinian journalists “have paid the highest price” as a result of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, with 56 journalists killed in 2025, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) announced on Wednesday.
According to its annual Killed List released on December 31, a total of 128 journalists and media workers, including 10 women, lost their lives in 2025.
#URGENT Today, we launched our final list of 128 journalists and media professionals killed in 2025, including 10 women and 9 accidental deaths
The three deadliest countries:
🇵🇸 Palestine: 56
🇾🇪 Yemen: 13
🇺🇦 Ukraine: 8#IFJKL25https://t.co/AJndFssTEP pic.twitter.com/qBL8gm1a3n— IFJ (@IFJGlobal) January 1, 2026
More than half, a total of 74 journalists, were killed in the Middle East and Arab World region, accounting for 58 percent of all media professionals killed worldwide, the IFJ stated in a statement.
The region “holds a macabre record for the number of journalists killed in 2025, with 74 deaths,” the organization said, adding that Palestinian journalists with 56 recorded deaths in Gaza paid “the highest price.”
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“The most emblematic was the 10 August targeted attack on Anas Al-Sharif, an Al Jazeera reporter: he was killed, along with five other journalists and media workers, in a tent housing journalists on the outskirts of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City,” the IFJ stated.
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In Yemen, it added, journalists have “also paid the ultimate price for this conflict,” with one attack by the Israeli Army on the offices of the ‘26 September’ newspaper killing 13 journalists and media workers.
“This is considered one of the worst-ever attacks on media offices,” the organization stressed.
‘A Global Crisis’
“128 journalists killed in a single year is not just a statistic, it is a global crisis,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said. “These deaths are a brutal reminder that journalists are being targeted with impunity, simply for doing their job.”
In addition, governments across the Middle East region “have also shown their determination to stifle press freedom by instilling fear in critical journalists: 74 journalists are currently imprisoned, primarily in Israel (41 Palestinian journalists detained), Egypt (15) and Yemen (11),” the statement noted.
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Bellanger stressed that governments “must act now to protect media workers, bring killers to justice, and uphold press freedom. The world can no longer wait: it is time for a United Nations convention that guarantees the safety and independence of journalists everywhere.”
‘Deadliest’ for Journalists
In 2024, the IFJ documented 122 deaths, including 14 women, and 516 imprisoned journalists, with Palestine “being by far the most dangerous country for the second year in a row.” Of the 77 journalists killed in the Middle East and Arab World, 64 were in Palestine, six in Lebanon and four in Syria.
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At the time, the IFJ said that “Palestine has become one of the deadliest countries for media professionals in the history of modern journalism. Every name on the casualty list testifies to the extreme dangers faced by these journalists, as they strive to document local realities.”
Rising Death Toll
Israel has continued to violate the Gaza ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, killing at least 414 people and injuring over 1,100 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The total death toll since October 2023 has risen to over 71,200 Palestinians, with more than 171,000 wounded. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure is unprecedented since World War II. Thousands of people are still missing.
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In addition to the military assault, the Israeli blockade has caused a man-made famine, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians—mostly children—with hundreds of thousands more at risk.
Despite widespread international condemnation, little has been done to hold Israel accountable. The nation is currently under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
