Israeli forces have killed at least 706 family members of Palestinian journalists since October 2023, according to a report released by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS).
The syndicate’s Freedoms Committee said the killings represent a systematic pattern of targeting rather than incidental casualties of armed conflict. The committee characterised the attacks as deliberate attempts to suppress independent journalism and intimidate media workers in Gaza.
Pattern of attacks documented
The report documented 436 deaths of journalists’ relatives in 2023, 203 in 2024, and at least 67 in 2025. Muhammad al-Lahham, head of the Freedoms Committee, said the pattern demonstrates intent to eliminate independent reporting from Gaza.
“The Israeli occupation is waging a comprehensive war on the truth, making no distinction between the camera and the child, nor between the pen and the home,” al-Lahham said in a statement. “The blood of journalists’ families will remain a living witness to the crime of trying to silence the Palestinian voice.”
The committee said many victims were killed after forced displacement, including those sheltering in camps and temporary structures. Israeli strikes repeatedly hit residences, displacement sites, and areas known to house media workers and their families, according to the report.
Case study: Al-Abadla family
The syndicate cited the case of journalist Hiba al-Abadla, whose body was recovered near Khan Younis nearly two years after an Israeli airstrike destroyed her family home. Her mother and approximately 15 members of the al-Astal family were also killed in the strike.
“Hundreds of children, women and the elderly were killed because of a family member’s professional connection to journalism, in flagrant violation of all humanitarian and legal norms,” the committee stated.
The report described the targeting as collective punishment, noting that in some cases, entire families were eliminated, leaving only the journalist alive.
Psychological impact and forced displacement
Beyond the death toll, the syndicate documented severe psychological trauma among surviving journalists. Many have been forced to suspend their work or flee Gaza after losing immediate family members, including spouses, children, and parents.
The committee stated that the attacks represent a shift from targeting individual journalists to what it termed a “qualitative escalation”—using familial connections as leverage to suppress coverage.
Nearly 300 media workers killed
Israel has killed nearly 300 journalists and media workers in Gaza during the 26-month conflict—an average of approximately 12 per month—according to monitoring data from Shireen.ps, a database named after veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2022.
Several high-profile journalists were killed in what monitoring groups characterised as targeted assassinations. Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif was among those killed after Israeli officials alleged, without evidence, that he was affiliated with Hamas.
International response and impunity
Press freedom organisations have condemned the killings, but Israeli authorities have not arrested or prosecuted any military personnel for attacks on journalists or their families.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) identified Israel as the world’s deadliest country for journalists in 2025, citing the ongoing assault on Gaza and operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel has killed dozens of Arab journalists over the past two decades, but media freedom groups say the scale and intensity of attacks during the current Gaza conflict represent an unprecedented assault on press freedom.
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