The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says a record number of 129 journalists and media personnel lost their lives globally last year, with Israel accounting for two-thirds of the fatalities.

The New York-based committee reported that 2025 was the most lethal year for journalists, with the majority of fatalities being Palestinian journalists and media personnel targeted by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

“Journalists are being killed in record numbers at a time when access to information is more important than ever,” CPJ Executive Director Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement on Wednesday.

She added, “Attacks on the media are a leading indicator of attacks on other freedoms, and much more needs to be done to prevent these killings and punish the perpetrators. We are all at risk when journalists are killed for reporting the news.”

CPJ reported that over seventy-five percent of journalist fatalities in 2025 happened in areas of conflict.

The committee observed a rise in the use of drones for killing journalists last year, with 39 journalists assassinated by unmanned aerial vehicles, including 28 reporters in Gaza by the Israeli military.

According to CPJ, nine journalists lost their lives in Sudan and four in Ukraine last year.

“The numbers were still very low compared to Israel, which remains a significant exception,” it added.

The committee said that the rising number of journalist deaths “is fueled by a persistent culture of impunity,” with very few transparent investigations conducted into the 47 cases of targeted killings of journalists in 2025.

“No one has been held accountable in any of the cases.”

It cautioned that the ongoing inability of government officials to safeguard the press or bring their assailants to justice “establishes the foundation for more murders, even in nations not engaged in conflict.”

CPJ called for significant changes in how governments probe journalist murders “to ensure justice for perpetrators, which includes forming an international investigative task force and implementing targeted sanctions.”

A ceasefire has been in effect in Gaza since October 10, 2025, ending Israel’s onslaught that has claimed the lives of over 72,000 people, primarily women and children, while wounding more than 171,000 others since October 2023.

Even with the truce, Israeli forces have carried out numerous violations through shelling and gunfire, resulting in the deaths of 615 Palestinians and injuring 1,651 more, as reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza strip have killed more than 270 journalists and media workers since October 2023.

Source: Presstv