Global press freedom organizations sound desperate call to action as Palestinian journalists killed by Israel in Gaza skyrockets

Author: Devin Windelspecht, MSc

September 4, 2025

HRRC joins RSF and 271 global media outlets in calling for Israel to end attacks on journalists and allow access of foreign press into the Gaza strip, and for governments worldwide to provide shelter to Palestinian journalists reporting under constant threat in Gaza.

Four Al Jazeera journalists were among seven killed by an Israeli strike while resting in a tent for journalists in Gaza City on August 10, 2025. [Image credit: EPA/Shutterstock]

As over 200 journalists have been killed by Israel in Gaza since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, press freedom groups are organizing a last-ditch effort to pressure governments to protect journalists reporting on the front lines of what international human rights organizations are calling an unfolding genocide. 

The call, led by Reporters without Borders (RSF) and Avaaz, a global activism network, demands that governments act to protect Palestinian journalists in Gaza and end impunity for crimes committed by Israel against Palestinian journalists. The joint call also demands access to foreign press outlets into the Gaza strip–which have largely been denied except for rare instances of journalists being embedded with Israeli troops–and for governments to host Palestinian journalists seeking evacuation from Gaza. 

Over 250 organizations from 50 countries have joined the call. They include NPR and the Columbia Journalism Review in the U.S., The Independent in the U.K., French newspapers La Croix and L’Humanite, Al Jazeera, and Rappler in the Philippines. 

The call to action occurs after two recent killings of journalists by Israel: the targeted killing of Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif by an Israeli missile strike, which also killed five other journalists, and the killing of five more journalists covering an Israeli strike on a hospital in what appears to be a “double-tap” attack: an initial strike followed by a secondary strike with the intent to kill those who respond to the scene, including journalists and rescue workers. 

Palestinian journalists still working in Gaza have faced starvation, repeated displacement, the deaths of their family members, and the constant threat of Israeli bombardment – including attacks directly targeting journalists, which Israel often claims, without providing verifiable evidence, are working for Hamas. As a result, Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for journalists ever documented.  

The intentional targeting of journalists is a war crime, and press freedom groups say that Israel has been let off the hook by governments and Western media outlets, especially compared to international outcry that has erupted over other killings of journalists elsewhere, such as by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. 

As Israel continues to kill Palestinian journalists, RSF warns that “there will soon be no one else left to keep you informed.” 

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Glossary 

• Bombardment – massive and often indiscriminate use of missiles and bombs to attack a given area. 

• Displacement – being forced to move from one location to another in fear of one’s safety. 

• Embedded – the process of journalists following a group they are reporting on, such as an army unit, often in exchange for the military having some control over what they publish. 

• Evacuation – external support for a person looking to leave an area at risk to their life or safety.

• Genocide – the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic, national, religious, or other group. Examples include, but are not limited to, the Rwanda Genocide and the Holocaust. \

• Impunity – evading justice for crimes. 

• Last-ditch – final attempt

• Off the hook – not held accountable for actions that otherwise would otherwise be grounds for consequences. 

• Verifiable – information that can be confirmed as occurring from a secondary source. 

• War Crime – actions that violate the laws of war, as outlined in international treaties such as the Geneva Conventions. 

• Western – countries that are normally considered culturally and politically the “West.” The definition includes The United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Western Europe, and sometimes also includes Eastern Europe, Japan and South Korea.