Reporters Without Borders (RSF) blamed Israeli forces in Gaza for 29 of the 67 journalists killed worldwide in 2025.
The media freedom group said the number of “murdered journalists” had risen from 66 killed in 2024, most of them victims of war or criminal networks. annual report,
RSF director general Thibaut Brutin said in a statement, “This is where hatred towards journalists comes from! It led to the deaths of 67 journalists this year – not by accident, and they were not accidental victims. They were killed, targeted for their work.”
He said, “Journalists, key witnesses to history, have gradually become collateral victims, inconvenient eyewitnesses, bargaining chips, pawns in diplomatic games, men and women to be ‘eliminated’.”
Murder of journalists in Gaza
The most dangerous area remained the Gaza Strip, where 29 journalists lost their lives, the second most dangerous area was Mexico, where there were nine deaths.
The deadliest attack was a so-called “double-tap” attack on a hospital in southern Gaza on August 25, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to the international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press, the report said.
Israeli forces have killed nearly 220 journalists since the Gaza war began in 2023. At least 65 of them died because of their work or while working, the report said.
Israel has repeatedly denied that its forces target journalists.
503 journalists detained around the world
Other conflict zones such as Ukraine and Sudan also saw the killings of three and four news professionals respectively.
The report said that of the total 67 media professionals killed, at least 53 were victims of war or criminal networks.
In Mexico, 2025 was the deadliest in the past three years for journalists. Nine professionals were killed there, making it the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists.
The report highlighted that media professionals are most at risk in their own countries. Two foreign correspondents died on foreign soil in the last 12 months.
In addition to those killed, another 503 journalists have been detained around the world for their work. This figure was led by China, which imprisoned 121 news professionals, and Russia was second, with 48 journalists.
Syria emerged as the country with the most missing journalists as the country marks the one-year anniversary of the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime.
Edited by: Louis Olofse