The world is witnessing an unprecedented crisis for press freedom as the death toll among journalists in conflict zones across the Middle East continues to climb. Since October 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has recorded the deaths of at least 201 journalists and media workers in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon, marking the deadliest period for journalists since the organization began its records in 1992. The scale and brutality of these attacks have sent shockwaves through the international community, raising urgent questions about the deliberate targeting of reporters and the future of independent journalism in war-torn regions.
According to CPJ, the vast majority of these deaths—199 journalists—were caused by Israeli forces. Of those, 193 were Palestinians killed in Gaza, while six Lebanese journalists lost their lives in Lebanon. The violence has not been one-sided; two Israeli journalists were killed by Hamas. However, the overwhelming pattern, as documented by CPJ, points to a systematic campaign against journalists covering the conflict from Palestinian territories and neighboring countries.
The dangers facing media workers go far beyond fatalities. In the same period, 152 journalists have been reported injured, two remain missing, and 92 have been arrested amid a climate of widespread assaults, threats, censorship, cyberattacks, and even attacks on journalists’ families. Human rights groups have gone so far as to allege that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide, with CPJ warning that the targeting of journalists is a deliberate strategy to silence independent reporting and obscure the realities on the ground.
CPJ’s call to action is clear: the international community must urgently intervene to stop unlawful attacks on journalists, ensure independent media access to Gaza without fear of censorship or violence, and hold those responsible for these atrocities accountable. As the organization stated, “This latest killing spree is not only a grave violation of international law, but also a terrifying warning to journalists across the region: no place is safe.”
The crisis escalated dramatically on September 10, 2025, when Israeli airstrikes targeted a media complex in Sana’a, Yemen. According to a report released by the CPJ, 31 journalists from two government-run newspapers based in the Yemeni capital were killed in the strikes, along with four others, including a child. This attack has been described as the largest single assault on journalists in 16 years, and the second-largest ever recorded by CPJ, surpassed only by the 2009 massacre of 32 journalists in the Philippines.
Nasser Al-Khadri, editor-in-chief of the newspaper 26 September, described the attack on his newsroom as an “unprecedented massacre of journalists.” Speaking to CPJ, Al-Khadri said, “It is a brutal and unjustified attack that targeted innocent people whose only crime was working in the media field, armed with nothing but their pens and words.”
The strike occurred around 4:45 pm local time, just as staff were finishing up the publication of their weekly paper. Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen analyst, noted that the timing was particularly devastating: “Since it is a weekly publication, not a daily one, staff were gathered at the publishing house to prepare for distribution, significantly increasing the number of people present in the compound.”
The Israeli government has defended its attacks on civilian infrastructure by claiming that such sites house militants. In the case of the Sana’a media complex, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the target was the “Public Relations Department” for the Houthis, responsible for disseminating propaganda, including speeches by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik and statements from spokesman Yahya Saree. The IDF’s media desk justified the strike on social media, arguing that the newspapers were “responsible for distributing and disseminating propaganda messages in the media.” As a result, the journalists were described as “military targets.”
However, the CPJ and legal experts have pushed back strongly against this rationale. According to CPJ, “as civilians, journalists are protected under international law, including those working for state-run or armed group-affiliated outlets, unless they take direct part in hostilities.” Niku Jafarnia, a Bahrain and Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch, elaborated, “Radio and television facilities are civilian objects and cannot be targeted. They are legitimate targets only if they are used in a way that makes an effective contribution to military action. Civilian broadcasting facilities are not rendered legitimate military targets simply because they are pro-Houthi or anti-Israel, or report on the laws of war violations by one side or the other, as this does not directly contribute to military operations.”
CPJ classified the 31 journalists killed in the Sana’a strike as having been “murdered” by Israel, meaning that they were deliberately targeted specifically for their work. This deliberate targeting, the organization argues, represents a grave violation of international law and a chilling escalation in the ongoing war on journalism. Over the past decade, CPJ notes, one in six of the world’s murdered journalists have been killed by Israel.
The broader context is equally alarming. Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s war in Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for journalists worldwide, with more media workers killed there than in any other conflict combined. In August, CPJ reported that 192 journalists, nearly all Palestinians, had been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of hostilities, with other organizations putting the toll even higher. Recent months have seen a series of attacks drawing widespread condemnation, including what was described as a “double tap” strike on Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital aimed at killing first responders, resulting in the deaths of twenty people, including at least five journalists. Not long before, Israeli forces carried out the targeted assassination of Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif and five other journalists, claiming—without providing evidence—that they were part of a “Hamas terrorist cell.”
CPJ regional program leader Sara Qudah summed up the situation: “Since October 7, 2023, Israel has emerged as a regional killer of journalists, with repeated incidents in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and now Yemen confirming Israel’s longstanding pattern of labeling journalists as terrorists or propagandists to justify their killings.” Qudah continued, “Israel’s September 10 strikes on two newspaper offices in Yemen marks an alarming escalation, extending Israel’s war on journalism far beyond the genocide in Gaza.”
Israel’s military campaign has not been limited to media outlets. In recent weeks, the country has also bombed residential areas and medical facilities in Yemen, as well as launching a strike on the nation’s main airport. The attacks come as the Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have launched drone and missile strikes against shipping vessels in the Red Sea and directly against Israel, claiming to act in support of Palestinians under fire. The Houthis have said they will stop these attacks only when Israel reaches an agreement with Hamas to end the war in Gaza.
As the number of journalists killed continues to rise, so too does the urgency of the international community’s response. CPJ and other human rights organizations are demanding immediate action to halt the targeting of journalists, ensure safe access for independent reporting, and bring those responsible to justice. The fate of press freedom—and the ability of the world to know what is truly happening in these conflict zones—hangs in the balance.
The relentless attacks on journalists in Gaza, Yemen, and beyond have transformed the region into the most dangerous place on earth for media workers. As the world watches, the need to protect those who risk their lives to report the truth has never been more stark or more urgent.
