PARIS: Fifty-four journalists were killed worldwide while carrying out their work or because of their profession in 2024, a third of them by the Israeli army, according to an annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published on Thursday.

According to the press freedom NGO, Israeli armed forces were responsible for the deaths of 18 journalists this year — 16 in Gaza and two in Lebanon. “Palestine is the most dangerous country for journalists, recording a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years,” RSF said in its annual report, which covers data up to December 1.

The organisation has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for “war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army.” It said that in total “more than 145” journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the conflict there in October 2023, with 35 of them working at the time of their deaths, RSF said.

It described the number of killings as “an unprecedented bloodbath.” In a separate report published on Tuesday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that 104 journalists were killed worldwide in 2024, with more than half of them in Gaza.

The figures differ between the IFJ and RSF due to two different methodologies used in calculating the toll.

RSF only includes journalists whose deaths have been “proven to be directly related to their professional activity.” Israel denies that it intentionally harms journalists but admits that some have been killed in air strikes on military targets.

“We don’t accept these figures. We don’t believe they are correct,” Israeli government spokesman David Mercer told a press conference on Wednesday. After Gaza, the deadliest places for journalists in 2024 were Pakistan with seven deaths, followed by Bangladesh and Mexico with five each.

In 2023, the number of journalists killed worldwide stood at 45 in the same January-December period.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2024