Since Israel’s infamous genocidal war broke out in Gaza in October 2023, at least 706 family members of Palestinian journalists have been killed, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
In a report released late on Saturday, the Freedoms Committee of the syndicate claimed that Israeli forces are constantly pursuing journalists’ families as part of a “war” aimed at stifling Palestinian reporting.
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According to the report, the attacks were planned rather than result from war-related fatalities.
The union claimed that Israeli violence against journalists has “evolved into a more dangerous and brutal dimension, represented by targeting the families and relatives of journalists” in an apparent attempt to make journalistic work an existential burden for which mothers, wives, fathers, and sons pay the price.
The pattern of attacks from 2023 to 2025, according to Muhammad al-Lahham, the Freedoms Committee’s head, reveals Israel’s desire to stifle independent reporting in Gaza.
He claimed that the Israeli occupation is wagering a comprehensive war on the truth, making no distinction between the pen and the home or the camera. His comments were directed at journalists’ families.
The journalists’ families’ blood will continue to live as a living example of the Israeli government’s campaign to silence the Palestinian voice, al-Lahham continued.
family killings are reported as witnesses.
According to the report, Israeli forces killed 436 journalists’ relatives in 2023, 203 in 2024, and at least 67 this year. According to the report, the deaths continued even after numerous families were forced to relocate and sought refuge in tents and temporary camps.
The syndicate cited a recent incident in Khan Younis, where journalist Hiba al-Abadla, her mother, and about 15 al-Astal family members were found dead nearly two years after Israeli aircraft bombed their west-of-the-city home.
According to the committee, “Hundreds of children, women, and the elderly were killed because a family member’s professional association with journalism was a flagrant violation of all humanitarian and legal standards.”
The findings show that Israeli attacks have repeatedly targeted journalists’ homes, displacement sites, and areas where journalists and their families are residing. Journalists who are still alive can witness their destruction in some instances when entire families are exterminated.
The committee referred to this as a “qualitative shift” in Israel’s behavior, shifting from individual punishment to collective punishment. Israel “desires to intimidate society itself and dry up the environment that nurtures the media,” according to the statement.
Assassination of nearly 300 journalists
Beyond the death toll, the syndicate cautioned against severe psychological harm. Many journalists have been forced to flee or halt their jobs as a result of Israel’s ongoing violence, and many have lost children, parents, or other loved ones to their own trauma, family breakdowns, or even death.
Israel targeted assassinations of journalists in Gaza over the past year, most notably those carried out by Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, who falsely claimed to be Hamas members.
According to Shireen, they are one of nearly 300 journalists and media professionals who were killed in Gaza over the course of 26 months, or about 12 journalists per month. Shireen Abu Akleh, the veteran correspondent for Al Jazeera’s monitoring website Ps, is the website’s name. who died in the West Bank’s 2022 occupation.
The killings of journalists by Israelis have been carried out in secret, despite the condemnation of media freedom organizations. No soldiers from Israel have been detained or charged with killing journalists.
Source: Aljazeera
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