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At least 79 journalists and media workers have been killed in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/israel-hamas-war/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Israel-Gaza war</a> since Oct. 7, according to the <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/11/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/" target=_blank>Committee to Protect Journalists</a>. In the first 10 weeks of the war, more journalists were killed than have ever been killed in one country over an entire year, <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/12/israel-gaza-war-takes-record-toll-on-journalists/" target=_blank>according</a> to the CPJ in December. Sixteen journalists have been reported injured, and 24 are missing or were arrested.

The majority of those killed, 72, were Palestinians in Gaza, where reporters have been killed in their homes and in the field. Three Lebanese journalists and four Israeli journalists are among those who have been killed, according to the press freedom group.

Sari Hennawi

Roshdi Sarraj, a British-born journalist and filmmaker, was the co-founder of Gaza-based company Ain Media. He was killed when an Israeli strike hit his parents’ home on Oct. 22, his wife, Shrouq Aila, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/29/israel-gaza-war-journalist-killed-roshdi-sarraj/" target=_blank>told The Washington Post</a>.

He was injured so badly that she was able to see brain matter, she said: “Each time I close my eyes, I see him with the injury.”

“Roshdi did his job with the greatest humility, the greatest gentleness and the greatest professionalism,” Alice Froussard, a French journalist who worked closely with him, told The Post.

“He reported the horror on the spot, the horror we don’t want to look in the eye,” she said. “Like all Gazan journalists, Roshdi lost count of the time he spent in hospitals, with the families of victims and the survivors he had to interview. He lost count of the Israeli strikes he had to film, as well as the houses pulverized, the towers reduced to nothing, the bodies piling up.”

The Israel Defense Forces said it would not respond to requests for comment about the Palestinian journalists named in this article unless given exact times and geographical coordinates for their killings.

Family Photo

Days before he was killed, Sarraj, 31, spoke to The Post about the death of his colleague, Ibrahim Lafi, and said journalists in Gaza deserved protection.

As Israel bombards Gaza, a woman sees her world collapse

Sarraj leaves behind his wife Aila and their daughter, Dania, who turned 1 on Nov. 6, about two weeks after his death. In an Instagram post marking Dania’s birthday, Aila recalled how her late husband comforted her through labor just one year ago. “I still hold onto the hope that you will be here to help her blow out her first candle,” she wrote. “You were too young to lose your life simply for being a journalist.”

Courtesy of Khabar Press Agency

Photojournalist Muhammad Sobh was at the newsroom of Palestinian outlet Khabar when employees learned that Israeli strikes could soon target a high-rise in Gaza, his editor said. He went to the scene with his colleague.

“They took all the necessary precautions,” said Saleh al-Nazli, Khabar’s editor in chief, adding that they were wearing protective journalist gear, including flak jackets and helmets.

Sobh, 34, took shelter under a building “a sufficient distance away from the high-rise that was at risk of being targeted,” along with other reporters, Nazli said in voice messages to The Post. But the building they sought out as a potential safe space was hit by an Israeli strike, killing Sobh and his colleague, Hisham al-Nawajah.

It’s becoming impossible to report from Gaza

Sobh was “a passionate journalist who loved his job,” who “had a love of life,” and who often went to the beach in Gaza with his wife and 6-year-old son, Rizq.

The Oct. 10 strike also <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-director-general-deplores-deaths-journalists-saeed-al-taweel-mohammed-sobboh-and-hisham" target=_blank>killed</a> Palestinian journalist Said al-Taweel, after he appeared in a <a href="https://fb.watch/nLbExEgdvj/" target=_blank>Facebook video</a> reporting on residents evacuating the area that day. In a funeral procession, colleagues carried their bodies through the streets, wrapped in white shrouds with helmets labeled “PRESS” perched on top.

Loay Ayyoub

Journalist Hamza al-Dahdouh, 27, was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza on Jan. 7, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/7/hamza-son-of-al-jazeeras-wael-dahdouh-killed-in-israeli-attack-in-gaza" target=_blank>the Al Jazeera news network reported</a>. His father, Wael al-Dahdouh, is Al Jazeera Arabic’s Gaza bureau chief and Hamza was on assignment for the channel when he was killed.

He was traveling in a car with fellow journalist Mustafa Thuraya, on a road between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, when the missile reportedly struck. The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to a request for comment.

Hamza is the third child of Wael al-Dahdouh to be killed during the war. In October, an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/25/wael-al-dahdouh-family-gaza-al-jazeera/" target=_blank>Israeli strike in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp </a>killed Wael’s wife, 15-year-old, 7-year-old daughter and infant grandson.

In December, Wael was wounded in an Israeli drone strike in Khan Younis that killed his colleague, Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa.

“Nothing is harder than the pain of loss … I wish that the blood of my son Hamza is the last of journalists and the last of people here in Gaza and for this massacre to stop,” Wael said in remarks broadcast on Al Jazeera.

Family of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief killed in airstrike

Hisham al-Nawajah regularly posted updates on social media from hospitals and decimated streets. The 27-year-old Palestinian, who also reported for Khabar, documented what he saw under Israeli bombardment in Gaza.

Soon after the strike on that high-rise, Nawajah’s wife <a href="https://www.facebook.com/seham.zaen.w?mibextid=ZbWKwL" target=_blank>posted</a> on Facebook on Oct. 10 that he was injured. “Pray for him,” she wrote, later describing him as “my sweetheart, my life partner.” The Khabar news agency then <a href="https://khbrpress.ps/post/392372/%D9%88%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B9%D9%89-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%87%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%A3%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%87-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%82%D8%B5%D9%81" target=_blank>announced</a> that he had died. The couple have young twins, said Nazli, the editor.

“We will truly miss our colleagues. They were dedicated to their work,” Nazli said. “Israeli strikes killed their dreams and the dreams of their families.”

Amjad Arabid, a West Bank-based journalist with Khabar, said he “will miss all the moments that brought us together,” pledging to keep reporting “so that their blood does not go in vain.”

Ueslei Marcelino

Ayat Basma met Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah about 15 years ago. The two worked together at Reuters, where Abdallah covered some of the world’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/obituary-reuters-issam-abdallah-covered-worlds-biggest-events-with-bravery-2023-10-14/" target=_blank>biggest</a> stories, including the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/02/turkey-earthquake-adiyaman-construction-destruction/" target=_blank>earthquakes</a> in southern Turkey.

“We were family,” Basma, a former senior producer at Reuters, told The Post, adding that Abdallah was always ready to document with his camera wherever journalism took him. He was a “brave” and “multitalented” video journalist who did not want to be sitting at a desk, she said. He would tell her: “If you need me, I’ll be out in the street, on my motorcycle.”

On Oct. 13, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/13/israel-gaza-war-lebanon-journalists/" target=_blank>Abdallah was killed and six other journalists</a> were wounded in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border when Israeli shelling struck the area they were reporting from, according to colleagues and a witness. He had turned 37 weeks earlier. The Israeli military said that it would investigate and that it was “very sorry” for Abdallah’s death, but it did not claim responsibility. Watchdog group Reporters Without Borders said an <a href="https://rsf.org/en/rsf-video-investigation-death-reuters-reporter-issam-abdallah-lebanon-journalists-vehicle-was" target=_blank>initial investigation</a> found that the strikes on the group of journalists were targeted and that they were clearly identified as press.

Reuters journalist killed in southern Lebanon by Israeli strike, colleagues say

Abdallah was known among his peers for reporting carefully and with empathy, while lifting the mood in difficult environments. His death sparked an uproar in his native Lebanon, as colleagues called for accountability.

“I have learned through all the years of covering conflicts and wars with Reuters from around the region that the picture is not only front lines and smoke, but the untold human stories which touch us all inside,” he <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/obituary-reuters-issam-abdallah-covered-worlds-biggest-events-with-bravery-2023-10-14/" target=_blank>wrote</a> last year.

Comfort is almost impossible to find right now, Basma said, though an Arabic song brings her a sliver of solace. “I will plant you a garden of roses,” the lyrics go. Basma said she purchased two lemon trees and a cyclamen, the national plant of Lebanon, known for its bright flowers and heart-shaped leaves, and will return to the place Abdallah died. “I will make a garden there,” she said.

Photo by Liron Moldovan

As sirens warning of incoming rockets rang out on the morning of Oct. 7, Israeli videographer Yaniv Zohar received a text message from his boss, Ami Shooman. The pair worked together at the Israel Hayom newspaper, where Zohar had been employed for a decade.

“Good morning,” Shooman’s message read. “Get ready.”

But Zohar, 54, did not have time to go outside and begin recording. As Hamas staged an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/07/israel-gaza-hamas-attack-palestinians/" target=_blank>unprecedented cross-border assault in southern Israel</a>, the militants stormed his home in the Nahal Oz Kibbutz, near the border with Gaza, killing Zohar, his wife and their two daughters, his employer said. Zohar’s son was saved because he had gone out for a run at the time, Israel Hayom <a href="https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/10/11/hamas-kill-israel-hayom-cameraman-with-wife-daughters/" target=_blank>reported</a>.

Before his death, Zohar messaged Shooman to let him know he was hunkered down in his home shelter, reporting sounds of gunfire outside. It was the last time Shooman heard from his colleague.

“Yaniv was an amazing guy, always ready to take on another assignment,” Shooman told The Post. “His death is a tremendous loss for Israel Hayom.”

Photo by Roshdi Sarraj

Ibrahim Lafi’s Instagram feed documented birds, horses, weddings and sunsets. One image shows a full moon above water. In another, a rainbow arches across Gaza City.

Lafi, 21, worked with Sarraj at <a href="https://ain-media.com/" target=_blank>Ain Media</a>, and used the platform to capture the hardship in Gaza: buildings reduced to rubble, groups of people mourning the dead.

After news emerged of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Lafi and colleagues went to report near the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, said Sarraj, in voice messages to The Post on Oct. 18. Lafi was killed as Israel retaliated and fighting broke out, Sarraj said.

A year after journalist’s killing, report finds pattern of Israeli inaction

Lafi was ambitious and passionate about video storytelling, Sarraj said. He filmed documentaries for organizations including Oxfam and UNICEF. “He was very talented and creative. He had a big dream of being an international journalist and filmmaker covering events around the world,” he said.

His friend, Palestinian journalist Yara Eid, posted a tribute to him on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CyIDS4gopy4/?img_index=1" target=_blank>social media</a> describing him as “the most supportive friend I’ve ever had,” who encouraged her to persevere during tough times. “He was killed wearing his press vest doing what he loved most,” she wrote.

Salam Mema’s Facebook page offered a window into motherhood and pride. A <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=7105602619468312&set=a.155457341149576" target=_blank>photo</a> she posted in July showed her sons dressed in beige suits alongside her young daughter, who was wearing a white dress and flowers in her hair. “They are a part of my soul,” she wrote.

Mema, 32, was a freelance journalist and member of the Women Journalists Committee in Gaza. Her friend Nisreen Razayne told The Post she was “an angel,” a loving mother and a supportive colleague.

An Israeli airstrike on Mema’s home in the Jabalya refugee camp killed her and members of her family, according to Razayne and the <a href="https://www.womeninjournalism.org/threats-all/palestine-israeli-airstrike-kills-journalist-salem-mema-and-family-in-gaza" target=_blank>Coalition for Women in Journalism</a>. Mema had been alive, trapped under the rubble, but she could not be reached in time, Razayne said.

About three days later, on Oct. 13, Mema’s body was recovered along with that of her 7-year-old son, Hadi, her friend said. Mema’s husband and brother-in-law were also killed, she said. Her 5-year-old son, Ali, was pulled from under the wreckage, but her daughter, 3-year-old Sham, remained missing, the coalition said on Oct. 20.

“She was not a military person to kill,” Razayne said. “My mind can’t comprehend  anymore.”

Claire Parker, Heba Farouk, Noga Tarnopolsky, Miriam Berger and Adela Suliman contributed to this report.

Germany’s Golden Blogger, foreign reporting (German election messaging app project)

Brunel University in England, BA in English and creative writing

Walthamstow School for Girls, England

Jennifer Hassan is a London-based breaking-news reporter for the Foreign desk at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 2016, Jennifer honed her breaking-news skills as the U.K. social media editor at MailOnline.

Jennifer Hassan

SAJA Daniel Pearl Award 2022 (India under Surveillance)

SAJA Award for Business Reporting 2022 (Facebook under Fire)

Member of the team to win the George Polk Award for Technology Reporting 2021 (The Pegasus Project)

Honorable mention, SABEW Award 2021 (Facebook Papers)

New York Society for Professional Journalists Award, 2016

Radio Digital Television Network Foundation Fellow, 2016

Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation Scholar, 2015

Honorable mention, World Media Summit Global Awards, 2014

Toto Funds the Arts Award, 2013

Delhi University, BA in English

Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, MA in Journalism

Niha Masih is a reporter at The Washington Post's Seoul hub, where she covers breaking news in the United States and across the world. Previously, she was The Post's correspondent in India, where she covered the rise of majoritarian nationalism, conflict in Kashmir, the covid crisis and digital surveillance of citizens.

Niha Masih

American University of Beirut, BE in Civil Engineering

Columbia University, MS in Journalism

Ellen Francis is a reporter covering breaking news for The Washington Post in London. 

Ellen Francis

Yale University, BA in history and political science

Sammy Westfall is an assistant editor on The Washington Post's Foreign desk.

Sammy Westfall

Journalists killed in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon in the Israel-Hamas war

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Fatima Shbair

Israel Palestinians

Julie Yoon

Joseph Snell

Reuters

Funeral held for journalists killed in Gaza

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