203. Israel has much to answer for
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed several Palestinian journalists without facing any consequences, and the whole world has been a silent spectator.
Besides physical threats, journalists, particularly Palestinians, have faced organized smear campaigns and efforts to undermine their credibility.
Israeli officials, pro-government media outlets, and online platforms have frequently labeled journalists as terrorists or claimed they work for Hamas.
These actions are intended to justify attacks on press workers and diminish global support for those reporting on the war’s realities.
This effort to discredit not only risks journalists’ safety but also aims to undermine the recording of war crimes and genocide by discrediting witnesses.
How can journalists perform their work or even survive amid deliberate starvation and the denial of essential aid?
In fact, Israel has killed more journalists and media workers in the first three years of the Israel-Gaza conflict than were killed worldwide from 2020 to 2022.
As of January 6, 2026, CPJ’s investigations show that at least 252 journalists and media workers are among the several tens of thousands of people killed in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Israel, and Iran since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented 249 deaths among journalists and media workers from 2023 to 2025, compared with 165 worldwide over the previous three years.
Initially, officials from the Israeli Defense Forces stated that the army does not deliberately target journalists.
However, soon after the war began, officials said they could not guarantee the safety of journalists working in Gaza.
The most shocking case emerged in December 2025, when German journalist Anne Liedtke, detained on a Gaza-bound flotilla, said that Israeli soldiers raped her while she was in custody.
Italian journalist Vincenzo Fullone and Australian activist Surya McEwen made similar allegations.
CPJ reviewed various testimonies, photographs, and medical records that detail severe abuses by Israeli soldiers and prison guards targeting Palestinian journalists.
Almost 60 Palestinian journalists detained in Israeli prisons since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack have been beaten, starved, and subjected to sexual violence, including rape, the report alleges.
The report is based on in-depth interviews with 59 Palestinian journalists, 58 of whom report experiencing what they describe as torture during Israeli detention. Fifty-five of the 59 journalists reported experiencing extreme hunger or malnutrition
The report states, “While conditions differed among facilities, the techniques reported by interviewees—such as physical assaults, forced stress positions, sensory deprivation, sexual violence, and medical neglect—were remarkably consistent.”
The Israeli prison service and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have both strongly rejected the allegations.
But the truth has come out, and I trust them.