NEW YORK, 26 Feb. - (ANA) - Israel was responsible for the deaths of two-thirds of journalists killed across the world in 2025, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

 

The press watchdog said on Wednesday that 129 journalists and media workers were killed last year, making 2025 the deadliest year since the organisation began collecting data more than three decades ago.

 

The CPJ said that Israeli forces had killed 86 members of the press during the 12-month period, describing it as an "unparalleled" disregard for the lives of journalists.

 

The figure includes journalists killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, Yemen and Iran, but more than 60 percent of those killed were Palestinians reporting from Gaza.

 

"Israel has shifted the paradigm in its deliberate and unlawful targeting of journalists," the CPJ wrote.

 

The number of killings may be "far higher" because of Israeli restrictions on international media access and destruction of communications infrastructure, the CPJ said.

 

In 2025, Israel was responsible for more than 80 percent of the 47 journalists murdered because of their work.

 

Israeli officials have commonly justified their killings of journalists by accusing them of being militants without producing any credible evidence.

 

Israel killed some of the Arab world's best-known journalists in 2025, covering the war in Gaza, including Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Anas al-Sharif, Al Jazeera Mubasher journalist Hossam Shabat, and photojournalist Fatima Hassouna.

 

The deadliest attack took place in Yemen in September when Israeli warplanes bombed two newspaper offices in Sanaa, killing 31 journalists and media workers.

 

This was the second-largest death event of journalists ever recorded by the CPJ.

 

The single-deadliest attack in Gaza occurred in August when five journalists were killed in a "double-tap" airstrike on Nasser Hospital.

 

Among those killed were Palestinian photojournalist and Associated Press contributor Mariam Abu Dagga and Hossam al-Masri, who worked with Reuters.

 

Israel's assault on Gaza is the deadliest episode of media killings on record - since October 2023, it has killed 252 journalists and media workers and injured 174 others, according to CPJ data, while almost 100 others have been detained.

 

Israeli forces have extended their attacks to include the family members of Palestinian journalists, with a 2025 report by the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate saying that more than 700 relatives of journalists have been killed by the Israeli military since October 2023.

 

The CPJ also documented a surge in the use of drones to kill journalists in conflicts across the world.

 

In 2025, drones were used to kill 39 journalists, up from just two in 2023, according to the data.

 

Of the recorded deaths, 28 were killed by the Israeli military, five by the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and four by Russian forces in Ukraine.

 

"Journalists are being killed in record numbers at a time when access to information is more important than ever," CEO Jodie Ginsberg said.

 

"Attacks on the media are a leading indicator of attacks on other freedoms, and much more needs to be done to prevent these killings and punish the perpetrators."   - (ANA) - 

 

AB/ANA/26 February 2026 - - -