This year has been "particularly deadly" for journalists with 104 killed worldwide, more than half of them in Gaza, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said on Tuesday.
The death toll for 2024 is lower than the 129 deaths in 2023, but still makes it "one of the worst years" on record, IFJ secretary-general Anthony Belanger told AFP. According to figures compiled by the press group, 55 Palestinian media employees were killed in 2024 in the course of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. "At least 138 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the war began on October 7, 2023," the federation said.
Belanger condemned the "slaughter that is taking place in front of the eyes of the world". He said "many journalists were targeted" in Gaza deliberately, while others found themselves "in the wrong place at the wrong time" in the fighting.
After the Middle East, the second most dangerous region for journalists is Asia with 20 killed, including six in Pakistan, five in Bangladesh and three in India.
In Europe, the war in Ukraine continued to take journalist casualties with four killed in 2024.
Meanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that 520 journalists worldwide were in jail - a sharp increase on the 427 held behind bars last year. China topped the list as the worst jailer of reporters with 135 detained, including in Hong Kong, where authorities have been criticised by Western nations for enforcing national security laws wiping out dissent and other freedoms.
The IFJ's count of the number of journalists killed is usually much higher than that of Reporters Without Borders because of different counting methods. In 2023, Reporters Without Borders said 54 journalists and two contributors were killed in the course of their work. The NGO will publish its own figure for 2024 later this week. | BGNES, AFP
