Of 128 journalists killed globally final yr, 56 have been Palestinian, the Worldwide Federation of Journalists stated.
Printed On 1 Jan 2026
Palestine was the deadliest place to work as a journalist in 2025, with the Center East as an entire probably the most harmful area for media professionals, in accordance with a world journalist union.
The Worldwide Federation of Journalists (IFJ) stated the area accounted for 74 deaths final yr – greater than half of the 128 journalists and media employees killed – in a brand new report launched on Wednesday.
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The Center East was adopted by Africa with 18 deaths, Asia Pacific (15), the Americas (11) and Europe (10), in accordance with the report. The overwhelming majority of these killed have been males, however the checklist included 10 ladies.
“128 journalists killed in a single yr isn’t just a statistic; it’s a international disaster. These deaths are a brutal reminder that journalists are being focused with impunity, merely for doing their job,” IFJ Common Secretary Anthony Bellanger stated.
Palestinian journalists have been the most important cohort of victims: 56 Palestinian media professionals have been killed in 2025. Yemen adopted, with 13 deaths, Ukraine, with eight, and Sudan, with six, in accordance with the IFJ.
The Paris-based media union cited Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif as probably the most “emblematic” of the 56 journalists murdered in Palestine final yr protecting Israel’s genocidal struggle on Gaza. Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on August 10 alongside a number of colleagues when Israeli forces struck a media tent outdoors Gaza Metropolis’s al-Shifa Hospital.
The assault additionally killed Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, Al Jazeera digicam operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, freelance digicam operator Momen Aliwa and freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi.
IFJ additionally cited an Israeli strike in early September on a Yemeni newspaper workplace as “one of many worst-ever assaults on a media workplace”. 13 journalists and media employees on the Houthi-affiliated “26 September” newspaper have been killed, together with greater than 20 different folks.
One other 9 deaths have been dominated as accidents, whereas others – together with two journalists in Syria and two in Iran – have been “focused and killed” due to their work, IFJ stated.
Whereas the Center East was the deadliest area for the third yr in a row in 2025, the Asia Pacific accounted for the most important variety of journalists and media employees behind bars. Most circumstances in 2025 have been in China and Hong Kong, which collectively accounted for 143 journalists, adopted by 49 in Myanmar and 37 in Vietnam.
Europe was one other detention hotspot final yr, accounting for 149 imprisoned journalists. IFJ attributed the determine, up 40 % from a yr earlier, to “intensified repression in Azerbaijan and Russia”.
