Israel responsible for 43% of journalists killed worldwide in 2025 – RSF

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem on July 27, 2025. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)

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Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday that Israel was responsible for nearly half of all journalists killed worldwide this year, with 29 Palestinian reporters slain by its forces in Gaza.

In its annual report, the Paris-based media freedom group said the total number of journalists killed reached 67 globally in 2025, up from 66 in 2024.

Israeli forces accounted for 43 per cent of the total, making them “the worst enemy of journalists,” RSF said in its report, which documented deaths over 12 months from December 2024.

The most deadly single attack was a so-called “double-tap” strike — where dual bombings are staged — on a hospital in south Gaza on August 25, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press.

In total, since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, after the Hamas attack on Israel, nearly 220 journalists have died, making Israel the biggest killer of journalists worldwide for three consecutive years, RSF data shows.

The Israeli military says its raids and shelling target Hamas fighters and leaders.

‘Not stray bullets’

Foreign reporters are still unable to enter Gaza — unless on tightly controlled tours organised by the Israeli military — despite calls from media groups and press freedom organisations for access.

The RSF annual report also found that 2025 was the deadliest year in Mexico in at least three years, with nine journalists killed, despite pledges from President Claudia Sheinbaum to protect them.

War-wracked Ukraine (three journalists killed) and Sudan (four journalists killed) are also among the most dangerous countries for reporters, according to RSF.

The overall number of journalist deaths in 2025 remained below the peak of 142 recorded in 2012 at the height of the Syrian civil war, and below the average of around 80 deaths per year since 2003.

RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé noted a growing tendency to “smear” journalists as a way to “justify” targeting them.

“These are not stray bullets. This is a deliberate targeting of journalists because they inform the world about what’s happening on the ground,” she told AFP.

The RSF report also counted the number of journalists imprisoned for their work, with China (121), Russia (48) and Myanmar (47) listed as the most repressive countries.

As of December 1, 2025, a total of 503 journalists were detained across 47 countries, the report said.

Other organisations use different criteria to calculate journalist deaths. According to UNESCO, 91 journalists were killed in 2025.

AFP

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