Record 129 journalists and media workers killed in 2025, mostly by Israel: CPJ
A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed in the course of their work last year, two-thirds of them killed by Israel, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found.
In its annual report, the New York-based independent organisation said it was the second straight year that press killings set a record and the second straight year that Israel was responsible for two-thirds of them.
Israeli fire killed 86 journalists in 2025, mostly Palestinians in Gaza. Israel was also responsible for 81 percent of the 47 killings that the CPJ classified as intentionally targeted, or “murder”. It said the actual figure was probably higher due to access restrictions that made verification difficult in Gaza.
Israel has acknowledged targeting journalists in Gaza it said had links to Hamas, without providing verifiable evidence. CPJ called such allegations by Israel “deadly smears”.
“Israeli military has now committed more targeted killings of the press than any other government’s military on record”, the report said, noting that CPJ started collecting data more than three decades ago.
