Record number of journalists killed in 2025, two-thirds by Israel, claims CPJ report

The Committee to Protect Journalists’ annual report described 86 journalist deaths at the hands of Israel, figures that the IDF has since denounced.

A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed in the course of their work in 2025, two-thirds of them by Israel, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) detailed in its annual report on Wednesday.

It was the second consecutive year-on-record for press deaths, according to the CPJ, an NY-based nonprofit organization whose aim is to promote press freedom worldwide.

The report also claimed that the IDF has committed more targeted killings of journalists than any other government’s military since the CPJ began its documentation in 1992.

The IDF strongly rejected the claims, stating that it “does not intentionally harm journalists or their family members.”

“The report is based on general allegations, data of unknown origin, and predetermined conclusions, without considering the complexity of combat or the IDF’s efforts to mitigate harm to non-combatants,” it said.

The CPJ reported 86 journalist deaths caused by Israel in 2025, with 55 of them having been Palestinians in Gaza and the rest in a Houthi media center in Yemen, which the IDF described as a propaganda arm of the terror group.

At least 104 of the 129 journalists died in connection with conflicts, according to the report.

Apart from Gaza and Yemen, the deadliest countries for journalists include Sudan, where nine were killed, and Mexico, where six died. Four Ukrainian journalists were killed by Russian forces compared to 15 in 2022, and three died in the Philippines, the report said.

Terrorists pose as journalists, IDF claims

Among the killed journalists included in the report are Hussam al-Masri, a contractor for Reuters killed in an attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, and Hossam Shabat, a sniper from Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion posing as an Al Jazeera journalist.

The IDF claimed that, alongside the Shin Bet, the military was able to expose Shabat’s ties to Hamas and the al-Qassam Brigades, the terror group’s military wing, by revealing internal Hamas documents proving his participation in military training in 2019.

In August 2025, the IDF confirmed the death of Anas al-Sharif, a Hamas terrorist who also worked as an Al Jazeera correspondent inside the Gaza Strip.

Al-Sharif, who was identified by the military as a member of Hamas since 2013, was killed near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. He was found responsible for aiding the terror organization’s rocket attacks.

According to a study conducted late last year, 60% of individuals who identified as journalists and were killed during the war in Gaza were members of or affiliated with terrorist organizations, primarily Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, contradicting claims made by Hamas and various non-governmental organizations.

The research was conducted by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, and examined 266 media workers reported killed between October 7, 2023, and November 30, 2025.

Shlomo Mofaz, the center’s director, said that “the issue of Hamas’s propaganda is a high priority, and it uses a lot of media outlets abroad to talk about it.”

“The narrative of harming journalists is like the number of deaths – when you check the facts and figures, it’s not like that. About 60% is definitely a very high figure,” he said.