AhlulBayt News Agency: Israel has killed at least 706 family members of Palestinian journalists since the beginning of its war on Gaza in October 2023, according to a new report.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate’s Freedoms Committee stated that Israeli forces killed 436 relatives of journalists in 2023, 203 in 2024, and at least 67 in 2025.
The findings reveal that Israeli strikes repeatedly targeted journalists’ homes, displacement shelters, and areas known to host media workers and their families.
In some cases, entire families were wiped out, leaving journalists alive to witness the destruction of their loved ones.
The report noted that deaths continued even after families were forcibly displaced and sought refuge in tents and makeshift camps.
It added that Israeli forces are systematically targeting journalists’ families as part of a campaign to silence Palestinian reporting.
The committee emphasized that these attacks represent a deliberate strategy rather than incidental wartime casualties.
Israeli violence against journalists has “taken on a more dangerous and brutal dimension, targeting families and relatives of journalists, in an attempt to make journalism an existential burden paid for by sons, wives, fathers, and mothers,” the union said.
The syndicate further accused Israel of using collective punishment to suppress coverage of its war in Gaza.
It cited a recent case near Khan Younis, where the remains of journalist Hiba al-Abadla, her mother, and about 15 members of the al-Astal family were recovered nearly two years after Israeli aircraft bombed their home.
The committee described this as a “qualitative shift” in Israel’s conduct, moving from individual targeting to collective punishment.
“Hundreds of children, women, and the elderly were killed because of a family member’s link to journalism, in blatant violation of humanitarian and legal norms,” the committee said.
By targeting families, Israel aims to intimidate society and “dry up the environment that sustains the media,” it added.
Muhammad al-Lahham, head of the Freedoms Committee, said the pattern of attacks from 2023 to 2025 demonstrates Israel’s intent to crush independent reporting in Gaza.
He stated that targeting journalists’ families “shows the occupation is waging a war on truth, making no distinction between the camera and the child, or between the pen and the home.”
“The blood of journalists’ families will remain a living witness to the crime of silencing the Palestinian voice,” al-Lahham added.
Press freedom organizations have condemned Israel’s attacks on journalists, but the killings continue without accountability.
/129
Your Comment