The war on the Gaza Strip has entered its fourth year, with a toll on journalism unmatched in any modern war. According to the Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), Palestinian journalism has lost 262 journalists and media workers since 7 October 2023, all of them in Gaza except one colleague in the West Bank.
Three years in numbers
- 262 journalists and media workers killed: 261 in the Gaza Strip and one in the West Bank.
- 43 journalists held in Israeli prisons, up from 38 on 16 September 2026: five more detainees in less than a month, by the syndicate's own figures.
- 21 of them under administrative detention: held without a disclosed charge or trial, on renewable orders.
Gaza, seen only through its own journalists
Three years on, the foreign press is still barred from entering the Strip to work independently. The world sees Gaza only through the eyes of its own journalists, the same people who are being killed, detained and barred from reporting. When the door is closed to the international press, the local journalist becomes the only witness, and targeting them becomes targeting the truth itself.
Wounded and waiting for treatment
The syndicate says dozens of sick and wounded journalists are still barred from travelling abroad for treatment, although some need care that is not available in Gaza. We see this as a second punishment for people who have already paid for their work with their bodies. Medical care is a human right and must never be used as leverage.
What the syndicate is asking for
The syndicate renewed its call on the United Nations, the International Federation of Journalists, the international community and press freedom and human rights organizations to:
- stop targeting journalists and protect them under international humanitarian law;
- release detained journalists and end their administrative detention;
- open Gaza to the foreign press;
- open the crossings for sick and wounded journalists;
- hold independent, transparent investigations into the killing of journalists and bring those responsible to account.
Our position
Global Press Shield adds its voice to these demands. Every number in this toll is a journalist who carried a camera, a pen or a microphone; reporting the news must never be a sentence of death or prison. We will keep documenting what Palestinian journalists face and publish every figure with its source and date, as we did in our report on press freedom in Palestine, October 2026.
If you are a journalist facing threats, detention or a ban on your work, write to us at help@gpshield.org.
Source: Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (Arabic), statement on the third anniversary of the war, October 2026, documented by its Freedoms Committee.