Israeli military responsible for 70 percent of journalists killed in 2024

A total of 124 journalists and media workers were killed in 2024, the highest number recorded since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began documenting such cases in 1992.

Israeli forces were responsible for 85 of these deaths. The CPJ has found evidence that at least ten journalists were deliberately targeted by Israeli forces.

The previous deadliest year for journalists was 2007, with 113 fatalities. The CPJ’s database recorded 102 journalist deaths in 2023.

According to the CPJ, journalists are included in its database if there are "reasonable grounds to believe they may have been killed in relation to their work", either due to being deployed in dangerous areas or being directly targeted for their reporting.

The organisation confirmed that 24 journalists were deliberately killed in 2024, including ten targeted by Israeli forces in Gaza and Lebanon "in defiance of international laws that define journalists as civilians during conflict." It is also investigating 20 additional cases in which Israeli forces may have deliberately killed journalists.

The CPJ criticised Israel’s investigations into journalist killings as "slow and lacking transparency", adding that Israeli authorities "frequently accuse journalists of being terrorists without providing credible evidence".