104 journalists killed in 2024, over half in Gaza: press group

GAZA STRIP

Journalists and journalism students take part in a demonstration of solidarity and protest for the colleagues detained, disappeared, and killed in Gaza during the 38th edition of the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Dec. 5, 2024.

This year has been "particularly deadly" for journalists with 104 killed worldwide, over half of them being in Gaza, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Tuesday.

The toll for 2024 is down on the 129 deaths in 2023 but still makes it "one of the worst years" on record, IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger told AFP.

According to the figures collated by the press group 55 Palestinian media workers were killed in 2024 in the face of Israel's offensive in Gaza.

"Since the start of the war on 7 October 2023, at least 138 Palestinian journalists have been killed," the federation said.

Bellanger condemned the "massacre that is happening before the eyes of the world".

He said that "many journalists were targeted" in Gaza deliberately, while others had found themselves "in the wrong place, at the wrong time" in the fighting.

After the Middle East, the second most dangerous region for journalists was Asia with 20 killed, including six in Pakistan, five in Bangladesh and three in India.

In Europe, the war in Ukraine continued to claim journalist victims with four killed in 2024.

Meanwhile, the IFJ said that across the globe 520 journalists were in prison - a sharp uptick on the 427 being held behind bars last year.

China topped the list as the worst jailer of reporters with 135 being detained, including in Hong Kong, where the authorities have been criticised by Western nations for imposing national security laws quashing dissent and other freedoms.

The IFJ's count for the number of journalists killed is typically far higher than that of Reporters Without Borders, due to different counting methods.

In 2023 Reporters Without Borders said 54 journalists and two collaborators were killed in the course of their work. The NGO will publish its own figure for 2024 later this week.