ARTICLE 19 condemns the ongoing targeting of journalists in Palestine and the tragic casualties among them in December 2024. These incidents, which continue into early 2025, contribute to the devastating toll of journalist deaths since the start of the war in October 2023, one of the most deadliest conflicts for journalist and media professionals in recent history. We call on Israel to end all attacks against journalists and the media and respect its obligations under international law to uphold media freedom. We also reiterate our urgent call for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prioritise its investigation into the deliberate targeting and killing of journalists in Gaza.
In the past few weeks, Israeli forces killed at least another further 11 Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Four of them were killed in four separate Israeli strikes between 11 and 15 December, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), with two more killed at the start of January, according to reports from Al Jazeera and other outlets. On 26 December, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed five journalists and media workers affiliated with the Al Quds network in a strike on a vehicle clearly marked as press. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed on X that the strike targeted ‘Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists. In the same tweet, it listed the names of the killed journalists, describing the functions of some of them as ‘combat propagandists’ and ‘combat propaganda operatives’.
ARTICLE 19 is extremely concerned about any claim that journalists are engaging in ‘combat propaganda’ as a justification for targeting them. Journalists are protected under international humanitarian law as civilians. As outlined in our policy brief ‘Clearing the Fog of War: Protecting Freedom of Expression in Armed Conflict’, the threshold for journalists losing immunity from attacks is exceptionally high and cannot be met through mere reporting activities even where those activities are considered ‘propaganda’ for the other side of the conflict. Israel’s conflation of ‘propaganda’ activities and combat functions are therefore contrary to international law.
This is the latest instance of Israel’s repeated pattern of accusing journalists of being affiliated with militant groups, perpetuating a troubling trend of undermining their protected status under international human rights law. The recent killings add to the horrific toll of journalist deaths, with Palestine accounting for more than half of the total number of journalists killed globally in 2024, according to the International Federation of Journalists.
The role of journalists is crucial during times of conflict and war. They not only provide vital information to the public but also document crimes, report the needs of people in situations of vulnerability and contribute to saving lives by bringing attention to humanitarian crises and violations that may otherwise go unnoticed. In the context of increasingly limited sources of information about the war in Gaza, these killings make information even less available, limiting scrutiny over abuses and accessibility to the needs of civilians.
We recall that Israel has an obligation under international human rights law to ensure the protection of journalists and uphold freedom of expression, in particular amid hostilities. ARTICLE 19 also reiterates our call for the international community to hold Israel accountable and to take decisive action to protect journalists, including supporting calls for international media access to Gaza and for the international accountability mechanisms to prioritise investigations into the deliberate targeting and killing of journalists during conflict.