Gaza has become journalism’s graveyard

Anthony Bellanger, The Guardian -  For 24 long months now, Gaza has become the most dangerous place in the world to practise our profession. Israel prohibits foreign journalists from entering the territory, so the truth relies exclusively on Palestinian reporters – almost all of whom are members of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, affiliated to the IFJ. Too often they work without protection and without refuge for their families. And all too often, they are directly targeted.

Never before has the profession of journalism seen such a massacre in its ranks. The International Federation of Journalists, founded in 1926 and celebrating its centenary in Paris in May 2026, has recorded no comparable death toll since its formation, neither during the second world war, nor in Vietnam, Korea, Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq. Gaza has become the worst graveyard for journalists in contemporary history.

But this is not a series of accidental tragedies. It is a clear strategy: kill the witnesses, close Gaza, lock down the narrative. Preventing the international press from entering means silencing independent foreign observers to this conflict. And at a time when Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is promising to recolonise Gaza, controlling the narrative is as crucial as controlling the territory itself. Colonising also means erasing the ruins, the dead, the survivors and those who tell their stories.