Early in the new year, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists will be updating its accounting of the appalling carnage in the Israel-Gaza conflict, which initially claimed the lives of some 1,200 people in Israel as a result of the Hamas attack on October 7, including at least 39 Thai nationals. More than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in the almost three months since, about a third of them children. 135 workers with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) are among the dead.
According to the CPJ, this terrible collective loss of life has taken an exceptional toll on journalists attempting to cover the conflict. Of the 69 journalists and media workers confirmed dead by December 23, 62 were Palestinian, 4 Israeli and 3 Lebanese. Three more journalists had been reported missing and 15 hurt. The four Israeli journalists died in the initial Hamas attack.
The 69 dead represent about 80% of the journalists killed worldwide last year, and that sets a grim record: “More journalists have been killed in the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year, according to CPJ data.”
“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,” the American non-profit NGO said.
“CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes.”
https://cpj.org/2023/12/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict
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