New Delhi: At least 42 journalists have died in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since 7 October, preliminary investigations by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have revealed.
The New York-based non-profit, which promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists, has said this was “the deadliest month for journalists” since CPJ began gathering data about scribe casualties in 1992.
“As of 13 November, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 42 journalists and media workers were among the more than 12,000 killed since the war began on 7 October — with over 11,070 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel,” the group said in a statement early Tuesday.
Among those dead were 37 Palestinian, 4 Israeli and 1 Lebanese journalists. Three were reported missing, 9 injured, and 13 as having been arrested. The CPJ also said journalists covering the war had experienced “multiple assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship and killings of family members”.
#Update: Today, Ahmed Fatima, a photographer for the #Egypt-based Al Qahera News TV, was killed in a strike in #Gaza.
Up until now, 42 journalists have been killed in the #Israel–#Gaza war.
37 #Palestinian, 4 #Israeli, and 1 #Lebanese.https://t.co/lNtZEQfEOX
— CPJ MENA (@CPJMENA) November 13, 2023
“CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties. Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict,” the CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator Sherif Mansour said in the statement.
“Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats. Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit,” he said.
The non-government organisation is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists having been killed, reported as missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes, the statement said.
The statement also noted that the Israeli military told international news organisations Reuters and Agence France Presse in late October that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip.
The statement published a list of the journalists who had died covering the conflict since 7 October, when armed Hamas men rampaged through southern Israeli communities, killing 1,200 and taking over 240 hostages.
The ferocious retaliation that followed by Israel — by air and the recent ground offensive — have killed over 11,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas health ministry.
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