By W. Ali Khan
TWA
━━━━
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reveals in its latest report that a staggering 75% of journalists killed in 2023 lost their lives in the ongoing Israeli conflict in Gaza.
2023 emerges as the deadliest year for media personnel in the past decade, with 72 out of 99 journalists worldwide succumbing to the hazards of covering the Gaza war.
Had it not been for the fatalities in Gaza, the global journalist mortality rate would have shown a decline, as per the CPJ’s annual findings.
In December of the preceding year, CPJ highlighted that the initial three months of the Gaza-Israel war claimed as many journalist lives as a whole country’s yearly toll.
The Gaza conflict resulted in 77 journalist casualties, including 72 Palestinians, 3 Lebanese, and 2 Israelis.
CPJ’s President underscores the unprecedented peril journalists faced in this conflict, emphasizing the indispensable role of Gazan journalists in reporting due to restricted access for international counterparts. He laments the Western world’s lack of solidarity towards the Palestinian victims in Gaza.
According to CPJ, the 99 journalist fatalities globally in 2023 mark the highest since 2015, reflecting an alarming nearly 44% surge from 2022 figures. Somalia and the Philippines remained relatively stable amidst the turmoil.
While journalists operating in disputed regions are safeguarded under human rights laws, Palestinian journalists decry Israel’s violation of these laws by targeting the media.
