The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has launched a new report titled: “Assassination of Truth: Killing of Journalists amid Genocide in Gaza”. This report documents crimes and violations unprecedentedly committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against journalists and media institutions during the ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip now entering its 22^nd month.

Despite the legal protection granted to journalists under international law- as civilians not participating in hostilities- this protection has not shielded them from the unprecedented and systematic attacks they have faced. Since the beginning of the aggression, Israeli media and officials have openly incited against journalists through its official outlets and platforms, identifying specific individuals as targets, labelling them terrorists in press vests, and alleging affiliations with Hamas. As a result of this smear campaign, many journalists were targeted and assassinated, including Isma’il Al-Ghoul, Rami Al-Rifi, Hasan Esleih.

The report addresses the IOF’s crimes committed against journalists and media outlets in the Gaza Strip. It provides legal analysis and documentation supported by testimonies from eyewitnesses and survivors. The report concludes that the killing of journalists was not incidental, but rather part of the crime of genocide, intended to silence the truth and conceal the crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people.

The report also documents the killing of 221 journalists and the injury of 415 others from 07 October 2023 to 31 May 2025. It records recurring patterns of targeting and killing journalists, highlighting specific examples for each type of killing: First: Direct and deliberate killing of journalists while performing their professional duties, by targeting them in the field or inside vehicles clearly marked with press insignia. PCHR documented the direct and deliberate killing of 42 journalists while reporting in the field. Second: Journalists killed in airstrikes on their homes or tents. The report provides shocking figures regarding the targeting of journalists in their houses, killing many of them. From October 2023 until the end of April 2025, the IOF bombed 152 houses linked to journalists, resulting in the death of a total of 665 family members and relatives. Third: Journalists killed in indiscriminate strikes across the Gaza Strip. Dozens of journalists were killed during the reporting period due to continuous attacks targeting various areas of the Gaza Strip, where journalists were present whether in their homes, on the streets and markets, or near institutions and facilities.

During the reporting period, PCHR documented new horrific crimes committed by the IOF against journalists, providing further evidence that targeting journalists is an integral part of the crime of genocide. Following the preparation of this report, PCHR recorded the killing of 12 journalists: six were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a journalists’ tent near al-Shifa Medical Complex on 11 August 2025. This was followed by another airstrike on Nasser Medical Complex, which killed five journalists while they were covering the bombing of the complex on 25 August. On the same day, the IOF killed a journalist by targeting his tent in al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis. These crimes confirm that Israel continues its war against, silencing those who document its crimes, in blatant defiance of international law and the criticisms of human rights organizations.

The report also documents the IOF’s deliberate and systematic destruction of 112 governmental and non-governmental media institutions and offices, including official, partisan, private, and non-profit organizations. This destruction included television, satellite, and radio stations, broadcasting towers, media service offices, and newspaper headquarters.

In this report, PCHR highlights the arrest of dozens of journalists, with the Israeli authorities withholding information about their whereabouts and only disclosing their fate after months of international pressure. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported the arrest of 86 journalists, while16 of them remain in Israeli custody, according to Palestinian prisoner organizations. Many of those detained have been subjected to torture and inhumane treatment. To date, the whereabouts of four journalists remain unknown; two disappeared on the first day of the Israeli aggression, while two others went missing during the IOF’s ground invasion into northern Gaza Strip.

The report calls on the international community to condemn the targeting of journalists and to take immediate, decisive action to halt the killing of journalists; ensure the prompt release of all detained journalists; determine the fate of those who are missing; and provide urgent international protection for civilians in the Gaza Strip, including journalists.

The report also calls on the international community to pressure the Israeli authorities to immediately allow foreign journalists and international media correspondents to enter the Gaza Strip. Such access is essential to guarantee independent coverage and to monitor the humanitarian situation of approximately two million Palestinians, including the conditions of journalists and media institutions. In addition, the report urges the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to accelerate concrete steps to complete the investigation into crimes committed in the territory of Palestine, including the killing of journalists.