Why Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world for journalists

Why Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world for journalists

The latest Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed five Palestinian journalists along with other civilians, highlighting once again how deadly Gaza has become for the press. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more than 190 reporters—most of them Palestinian—have died since the war began in October 2023. The strike on Monday followed a familiar pattern: an initial attack, followed by a second strike as journalists and medical workers rushed to the scene. Witnesses said at least 20 people were killed overall, the New York Times reported.

Barriers to international coverage

Israel bars international reporters from entering Gaza independently, allowing access only under military escort. This leaves Palestinian journalists as the main eyewitnesses documenting the devastation. Their reporting has become vital, yet also contested. Israeli officials frequently accuse them of working under Hamas’s influence, while Hamas itself has a long history of suppressing critical coverage inside the enclave. The result is a fraught media environment where truth and propaganda are constantly in dispute.

Living and working under siege

Palestinian reporters share the same deprivation as the rest of Gaza’s population: hunger, repeated displacement, and fear of death. Journalists often have to move families at short notice when evacuation orders come, while still filing reports under fire. Gevara al-Safadi, a Gaza City photographer, described being wounded alongside his daughter in an Israeli airstrike in July. “There’s a lot of fear, and there’s no protection,” he said.

The case of Anas al-Sharif

Among the most prominent casualties was Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif, killed earlier this month in what appeared to be a targeted strike on a tent housing journalists. Israeli officials claimed he was a Hamas operative, citing alleged membership lists, but neither Al Jazeera nor independent organizations have verified those documents. Colleagues say al-Sharif had become one of the few voices left reporting from northern Gaza, contributing to Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage. Rights groups argue that even if he voiced support for Hamas online, such expression does not make him a combatant under international law.

Israel’s narrative and its critics

Israeli leaders have insisted they do not target journalists deliberately, but the repeated deaths of reporters raise questions internationally. Netanyahu described the most recent hospital strike as a “tragic mishap,” while the military said it believed cameras at the site were being used to track Israeli troops. Media watchdogs counter that Israel is attempting to limit outside scrutiny by silencing Gaza’s local reporters. “Israel doesn’t want the world to see the magnitude of what’s happening here,” said Tahseen al-Astal of the Palestinian journalists’ union.

A conflict reshaping press freedom

The war has already become one of the deadliest conflicts for journalists in modern history, surpassing even Iraq in the 2000s. Unlike other war correspondents, Palestinian journalists cannot leave to recover or regroup, trapped by Israeli and Egyptian border restrictions. They are forced to document the destruction of their own communities while enduring the same dangers and losses. “They are constantly displaced,” said Jodie Ginsberg of CPJ. “They are working from housing that is extremely precarious.”

Looking ahead

International condemnation has followed each attack on journalists, but with little tangible effect. Israel has banned Al Jazeera inside its territory and continues to dispute the legitimacy of Palestinian reporters. Meanwhile, the need for credible reporting from Gaza is more urgent than ever, as civilian casualties rise and humanitarian conditions worsen. For many Gazan journalists, the act of bearing witness is both a professional duty and a daily risk of death.