The Number Of Victims Of Journalists Died In Gaza Continues To Increase, CPJ: Big Sacrifice To Cover This Impromptu Conflict

Illustration of journalists on the battlefield. (Wikimedia Commons/men's

JAKARTA - The number of journalists killed in the war between Hamas and Israel has entered its sixth week, when relatives of Gaza's leading chief media agency and two other journalists said on Sunday they were killed in an Israeli attack on the region last weekend.

The New York-based Journalist Protection Committee (CPJ) of the United States said at the weekend it had increased the number of confirmed journalists and media workers killed in the region to 48 since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, as well as the retaliatory attacks carried out by Israel later.

CPJ recorded the death toll on the Palestinian side and Israel, although the majority were in Gaza. They said they used two sources to verify every death. Of the number of journalists killed, 43 Palestinian nationals, four Israelis and one Lebanese were mentioned.

"Residents across the region make great sacrifices to cover this heartbreaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have suffered and continue to bear unprecedented losses and face enormous threats," the CPJ program coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa said in an email to Reuters.

Meanwhile, in a statement on its website, CPJ said, until November 19, about 9 journalists were reported injured, 3 journalists were reported missing and 13 journalists were reportedly arrested.

It said journalists faced various attacks, threats, cyber attacks, sensors to the killing of family members.

CPJ is also investigating a number of reports that cannot be confirmed regarding other journalists who were killed, lost, detained, hurt, or threatened with damage to media offices and journalists' homes.

"The CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians who do important work during times of crisis and should not be targeted by warring parties," said Mansour assistants, coordinator of the CPJ program in the Middle East and North Africa.

One of the journalists reportedly killed last weekend was Belal Jadallah, told the Press House-Palestinian board, a non-governmental organization, his sister and other relatives told Reuters.

Apart from Jadallah, two freelance journalists Hassouna Sleem and Sary Mansour were killed on Saturday in an Israeli attack on the Bureij refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, their relatives and Palestinian health officials said.

Separately, the Israeli military reportedly did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Jadallah's death or others.