Deadly attacks on media personnel in Gaza, according to The Guardian.
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (May 3), The Guardian newspaper highlighted the threats that journalists face in the occupied territories and other high-risk areas of the world.
In an article titled “This is a war against journalists that has been waged around the world: let their voices be heard,” the British media outlet wrote: Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recorded the highest number of media personnel killed since the committee began collecting data three decades ago.
According to the committee’s report, at least 124 journalists and media personnel were killed in 2024, almost two-thirds of whom were Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank.
Other journalists have lost their lives while doing their jobs in Sudan, Pakistan, Mexico, Syria, Myanmar, Iraq, and Haiti. This is while hundreds have been imprisoned and detained, and many more have been repressed and attacked.
Attacks on journalists around the world have been accompanied by a tsunami of misleading and false information, deliberately spread on social media and the internet, to deceive.
In the United States, President Donald Trump called journalists “the enemy of the people” during his first term in office, and his current administration has spared no effort to sue major news organizations and has ordered federal agencies to investigate them.
World Press Freedom Day, designated by UNESCO, coincides with reports of the struggle for media freedom and independence around the world.
While journalists’ blue vests once provided some degree of protection, journalists across war zones now say they feel they are being targeted for wearing them.
The Guardian added: In Afghanistan, where press freedom has been virtually dismantled, some female journalists say they work in secret and fear daily detection by the Taliban.
The media outlet wrote: With press freedom facing such a wave of attacks in many parts of the world, it has never been more important for journalists to ensure their safety and freedom. Their protection under international human rights law must also be respected and defended.