Three years of Israel's genocidal war in Gaza have exacted a devastating toll on Palestinian journalists, with 263 media workers killed and hundreds more wounded, detained or displaced, according to Palestinian authorities and journalism organizations.
Journalists have lost homes, workplaces and family members, with many moving between bombing sites, displacement camps and hospitals to continue reporting.
They remain the main source of on-the-ground coverage as Israel continues to bar foreign journalists from entering the territory.
263 media workers killed
Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza Government Media Office, told Anadolu that Israel had killed 263 journalists and media workers during the war.
He said 50 journalists had been detained in Israeli prisons, with 23 still in custody.
"Three journalists remain missing: Nidal Suheil al-Wahidi, Haitham Jamal Abdul Wahid and Ahmad Issam al-Agha," he added.
Israeli attacks have damaged or destroyed 16 satellite television offices, 11 radio institutions, 12 newspaper and magazine offices, 23 digital media organizations, 27 printing houses and five union and rights organizations involved in media work, he said.
Al-Thawabta estimated losses to the media sector at about $1 billion, including premises, equipment, broadcast vehicles and technical devices.
On Sept. 7, the International Federation of Journalists said the journalist death toll in Gaza was the highest in modern journalism history, noting that it reviews and updates its lists as new information emerges.
More than a fifth of journalists killed
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said in earlier statements that 27 women journalists were among those killed, while nearly 500 journalists had been wounded.
The syndicate estimates that Gaza had about 1,200 journalists, meaning more than a fifth have been killed during the genocide.
It said between 60% and 75% of surviving journalists had lost their homes or been forcibly displaced, estimating the number affected at between 700 and 900.
More than 80% of media offices and institutions have been completely or partially destroyed, according to the syndicate.
The destruction has forced journalists to report from tents, displacement sites and areas surrounding hospitals amid shortages of electricity, internet access, protective equipment and cameras.
Deadly attacks in 2023
Anadolu's monitoring documented a series of killings of journalists while they were working or present at reporting and displacement sites.
Bilal Jadallah, director general of Press House-Palestine, a nonprofit that supports the development of independent Palestinian media, was killed in November 2023 when an Israeli strike hit his vehicle in Gaza City.
Jadallah also helped establish the Sawa news agency and worked to train journalists and provide them with safety equipment.
In early December, Anadolu freelance cameraman Montaser al-Sawwaf was killed alongside his brother Marwan in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Montaser, who had worked with Anadolu since 2014, had survived an attack on his family home two weeks earlier that killed his parents and several siblings. Despite injuries to his eye and nose, he continued reporting.
Born in 1990, he was married with two children and had studied journalism and media at Al-Aqsa University. His brother worked in documentary production.
Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa died after a Dec. 15, 2023 drone strike at the Farhana school in Khan Younis, Gaza because emergency rescue crews were blocked from reaching him for over five hours
Although his family lived in Belgium, Abu Daqqa had chosen to remain in Gaza to continue his journalism.
Losses continued in 2024
Journalists Hamza al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya were killed in January 2024 when an Israeli strike hit their vehicle west of Khan Younis.
Hamza, the son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh, had lost his mother and siblings in an Israeli strike on a house sheltering the family in the Nuseirat refugee camp in October 2023.
Photojournalist Hassan Hamad, who worked with several media outlets, was killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza in October 2024.
His remains were taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital, where his brother identified him by his hair and press vest.
Journalists killed in tents and hospitals in 2025
Anadolu freelance journalist Saed Abu Nabhan was killed by an Israeli sniper on Jan. 10, 2025 while carrying out journalistic and humanitarian work in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
In June that year, an Israeli attack killed Palestine Today correspondent Suleiman Hajjaj, the channel's cameraman Ismail Badah and Shams News editor Samir al-Rifai.
Journalist Youssef al-Nakhala of Al-Watania Media Agency died of wounds sustained in an Israeli strike on May 31.
On Aug. 10, an Israeli airstrike on a tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City killed six journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh.
Al-Sharif became widely known for reporting on bombardment, starvation and displacement in northern Gaza, which faced intensive Israeli air and ground attacks early in the war.
Qreiqeh worked with local media before joining Al Jazeera. His mother was killed during the Israeli military's assault on Al-Shifa Hospital in March 2024.
On Aug. 25, an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed five journalists while they were working: Mariam Abu Daqqa, Hossam al-Masri, Mohammed Salama, Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmad Abu Aziz.
Deaths after ceasefire
Government Media Office figures show that the death toll among Palestinian journalists rose from 254 to 263 after the ceasefire announced on Oct. 10, 2025.
On Oct. 12, the office documented the first journalist killing during the truce: Saleh al-Jaafarawi, who it said was shot by armed gangs linked to Israel while reporting in the Sabra neighborhood of southern Gaza City.
Journalists killed by the Israeli military in 2026 included Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Wishah in April and his brother Ahmad, a cameraman for the channel, on June 20.
Others included Amal al-Shamali, Anas Ghoneim, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Mohammed Qishta.
'Journalism without walls'
Beyond the human toll, the genocide has fundamentally reshaped journalism in Gaza.
With homes, offices and equipment destroyed, many reporters and photographers have worked from displacement tents and hospital courtyards, moving with their families while carrying whatever equipment they could salvage.
The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate has described this reality as "journalism without walls," reflecting the loss of hundreds of journalists' homes and offices as they continue reporting from displacement sites.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and wounded over 175,000 in Gaza. About 90% of the territory's infrastructure has been destroyed.
Despite an October 2025 ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, Israeli attacks have since killed 1,454 Palestinians and wounded another 5,090, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
