The number of Palestinian journalists killed since the start of the genocide war on Gaza on 7 October 2023 has risen to 260, following the killing of three more journalists in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday.
According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, the journalists killed were Abdul Raouf Sameer Shaat, Mohammad Salah Qishta, and Anas Abdullah Ghunaim. They were working with various local media outlets.
The journalists were killed in a targeted airstrike in southern Gaza City. The Israeli occupation military has issued no statement explaining the circumstances or justification for the attack.
This incident marks a dramatic escalation in the killing of journalists during the ongoing war, underlining the extreme risks facing media professionals in Gaza, where journalists have become direct targets despite the protections afforded to them under international humanitarian law.
Protecting journalists during armed conflict is a clear legal obligation for all parties involved. Under the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, journalists are considered civilians unless they directly participate in hostilities. Targeting, killing, or assassinating them is a serious violation that may constitute a war crime, particularly when such acts are systematic or repeated.
Evidence gathered since the beginning of the war shows a consistent pattern of Palestinian journalists being killed—whether while working in the field, at home, or while moving in known, declared locations—raising grave concerns about an apparent policy to silence media coverage and prevent documentation of violations against civilians.
The killing of journalists forms part of a broader pattern of grave violations against Gaza’s civilian population. The war, now in its second year, has resulted in over 71,000 deaths and more than 171,000 injuries, most of them women and children. Around 90% of civilian infrastructure—including homes, hospitals, and schools, has been destroyed.
Since the ceasefire began on 10 October 2025, the Israeli occupation has continued to carry out targeted killings of civilians, leaving 483 Palestinians dead and 1,287 injured. It has also maintained tight restrictions on the entry of food, shelter materials, and medical supplies, worsening the humanitarian catastrophe for the 2.4 million residents of Gaza.
International law clearly states that the killing of civilians, including journalists, constitutes a crime and a violation of humanitarian principles, regardless of the existence of a ceasefire. Continued impunity only encourages the repetition of these crimes, erodes the foundations of international justice, and entrenches a climate of immunity for perpetrators of serious abuses.
