The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate has reported that the Israeli occupation has killed 706 Palestinians from the families of journalists in the Gaza Strip since the start of the genocidal war in October 2023, in an unprecedented escalation that has targeted the very environment sustaining journalistic work. The assaults have not been limited to journalists themselves but have directly extended to their families and relatives.
According to a report issued by the Syndicate’s Freedom Committee, the targeting of Palestinian journalism has gone far beyond killing, injury, arrest, and obstruction of coverage. It has taken on an even more dangerous dimension by turning journalism into an existential burden, paid for with the lives of journalists’ children, spouses, parents, and relatives — a clear attempt to break professional will and silence the media voice through collective punishment.
The data show that this targeting has become a recurrent and systematic pattern throughout 2023, 2024, and 2025, rather than the result of isolated incidents or incidental errors. The number of those killed from journalists’ families reached 436 in 2023, 203 in 2024, and 67 since the beginning of 2025, amid the continued assault and the worsening humanitarian conditions.
Documented evidence indicates that the targeting has taken multiple forms, including the direct bombardment of journalists’ homes, strikes on areas where their families were displaced, and repeated attacks on neighbourhoods known to be home to journalists. This reflects a deliberate pattern aimed at dismantling the social environment that enables journalists to continue their work.
Under international humanitarian law, journalists are civilians as long as they do not take part in hostilities, and their families are fully protected as civilians. Targeting them or exposing them to harm constitutes a grave violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity, as well as a direct assault on the right to life, the right to personal security, and freedom of expression and access to information.
This pattern of violations confirms that the assault is no longer directed solely at individuals, but at journalism as a social and human rights institution, by transforming it into a threat to private life and undermining society’s ability to access the truth. In this context, silencing the media has become an integral part of managing the war.
According to the Syndicate’s data, during the genocidal war the occupation killed 256 journalists, detained 49, injured 535, and destroyed 150 media institutions, making this one of the deadliest campaigns against journalism in modern history.
These crimes are part of a genocidal war launched by the Israeli occupation on 7 October 2023 and continuing for two years, resulting in more than 71,000 Palestinian deaths, over 171,000 injuries, and the destruction of nearly 90 per cent of civilian infrastructure. United Nations estimates place the cost of reconstruction at approximately USD 70 billion, amid a persistent absence of accountability and the continued impunity of those responsible.
