128 journalists killed worldwide in 2025, says press group, many of them in Gaza

BRUSSELS — A total of 128 journalists were killed around the world in 2025, more than half of them in the Middle East, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Thursday.

The toll, higher than in 2024, “is not just a statistic, it’s a global red alert for our colleagues,” IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger told AFP.

The press group voiced particular alarm over the situation in Gaza, where it recorded 56 media professionals killed in 2025 amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, now largely halted by an October ceasefire.

“We’ve never seen anything like this: so many deaths in such a short time, in such a small area,” Bellanger said.

Israel has rejected allegations that it deliberately targets journalists and asserts that many of the ostensible members of the press who have been killed throughout the war were in fact combatants.

In some cases, the IDF has provided documentation seized from terror groups in Gaza that list the journalists as fighters for those groups.

A study published in December by an Israeli research center claimed that 60% of 266 press workers killed since Hamas launched the war with an invasion and massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, either strongly identified with or were members of Gaza-based terror groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with many working as propagandists.

Nevertheless, journalists, even those linked to terror groups, enjoy protection under international humanitarian law until they take up arms and participate directly in hostilities, in which case they become a legitimate target.

Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza since the start of the war, which gave Palestinian reporters in the territory a critical role in covering the two-year conflict.

The IFJ said journalists were also killed in Yemen, Ukraine, Sudan, Peru, India and elsewhere throughout the year.

Bellanger condemned what he called “impunity” for those behind the deaths. “Without justice, it allows the killers of journalists to thrive,” he warned.

Meanwhile, the IFJ said that across the globe, 533 journalists were currently in prison — a figure that has more than doubled over the past half-decade.

China once again topped the list as the worst jailer of reporters, with 143 behind bars, including in Hong Kong, where authorities have been criticized by Western nations for imposing national security laws quashing dissent.

The IFJ’s count for the number of journalists killed is typically far higher than that of Reporters Without Borders, due to different counting methods. This year’s IFJ toll also included nine accidental deaths.

Reporters Without Borders counted 67 journalists killed in the course of their work this year, while UNESCO put the figure at 93.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.