An alarming number of journalists have been killed while taking shelter during their coverage of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. As of Mar. 13, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) confirmed 95 journalists and media workers dead, with another 45 total either missing, injured, or arrested. There also are numerous unconfirmed reports of journalists being killed, detained, injured and missing under current CPJ investigation. The CPJ has also reported that since they started collecting data three decades ago, this has been the most fatal time period for journalists, averaging five casualties per week.

The overwhelming majority of these deaths were Palestinians caught in the Gaza crossfire, with a total of 90 victims. Among them were two Israelis in the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion as well as three Lebanese journalists killed in the Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon. Back in October, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) told Reuters and Agence France Press that they could not guarantee the safety and wellbeing of their journalists. Since then, many international news agencies including the New York Times have evacuated their journalists, but some Western agencies continue to maintain working teams in Gaza.

Despite the grave danger that confronted them, these journalists attempted to report the chaos and utter atrocity taking place in Gaza. They posted photographs and videos of the bloodbaths, crying children and mass destruction on social media. Palestinian journalists fought to publish horror stories and revealed the massacres which many human rights organizations have labeled a genocide. Their journalistic efforts offered a view into Palestinian struggles in the desolation of the war.

However, knowledge of what is truly occurring within Gaza’s borders is still limited. There have been at least six telecommunications and internet blackouts in the West Bank since Oct. 7, as well as major restrictions against international journalists, such as the IDF requiring reviews of CNN’s footage before it is published, which cloaks a full understanding of the extent of devastation in the region. This restricted access, along with the rampant killing of so many Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces, has raised the concern that the Israeli military is deliberately trying to repress the Palestinian narrative of the war. To make matters worse, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate reported that 25 of the 90 confirmed casualties were killed while wearing protective vests bearing the word “press”.

However, the IDF denied this accusation, and in a letter to CBS News a military spokesman claimed that Israel “has never and will never deliberately target journalists.” Israeli journalists have likewise attempted to convey the obliteration in Israel due to terrorist attacks. The spokesman, Nir Dinar, did warn, however, that staying in active war zones brings risks. Additionally, the Israeli military told the Washington Post that its forces are “operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities” and taking “all operationally feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians including journalists.”