2025 Deadliest Year on Record for Journalists; Israel Responsible for Majority

According to the annual report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, Israel was responsible for nearly two-thirds of these fatalities. The report highlights that 86 journalists were killed by Israeli fire, the vast majority being Palestinians reporting from the Gaza Strip. This marks the second consecutive year that journalist deaths have reached unprecedented levels, driven largely by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The CPJ report further reveals a disturbing trend of deliberate targeting, classifying 47 of the killings as "murder" or intentional targets. Israel was found responsible for 81% of these targeted cases, more than any other government’s military in history. Beyond Gaza, Israeli operations in Yemen also resulted in a significant toll, including a strike on a Houthi media center that killed 31 media workers—the second deadliest single attack on journalists ever recorded. Other regions with high fatalities included Sudan, where nine journalists were killed, and Mexico, with six deaths.

A significant new factor in the 2025 data is the rise of drone strikes, which accounted for 39 journalist deaths globally. Of these, 28 were attributed to the Israeli military in Gaza. Despite these findings, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has rejected the report, claiming it is based on "data of unknown origin" and that their operations target only combatants. However, the CPJ maintains that the culture of impunity remains a major threat, as virtually no transparent investigations have been conducted into these killings, and no one has been held accountable for the targeted deaths documented last year.