The Committee to Protect Journalists reports Israeli forces have killed nearly 200 journalists

Four Al Jazeera journalists — and three others — were killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza this month. We need to talk about that.

I usually only share reporting I’ve done, or topics where I have real expertise. International politics isn’t my beat, so I don’t pretend to have unique insight there. But this is different.

@christophergeorgewink

Nearly 200 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces since fall 2023, per CPJ. I try very hard to only speak publicly about reporting I’ve personally done, or on topics that I have credible expertise on. That means I don’t often address international politics, regardlsss of my personal private feelings. But this month’s killing of @Al Jazeera English journalists are a part of the Israeli-Gaza war I feel able to reflect on. #palestine?? #palestinian #protectjournalists #journalism #israel

? original sound – Chris Wink

I worry about a world where journalism with facts you don’t like gets dismissed as propaganda, and journalism with facts you do like gets celebrated as “our side.” Every serious journalist I know gets uneasy when anyone thinks we’re on a “team.” Journalism’s role is to gather and verify information wherever serious events take place.

War zones are the hardest, most important, and deadliest places to do that work. And what happens there shapes how journalism is treated everywhere else. The Committee to Protect Journalists says the Israeli government is carrying out the deadliest, most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists they’ve ever recorded. I know CPJ’s work. I trust them. And I’ve worked alongside Al Jazeera journalists myself.

Here’s what happened: Israeli forces targeted a tent in Gaza City being used by journalists. All inside were killed. Since fall 2023, roughly 200 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces and about 90 imprisoned.

You might ask why I’m posting about this instead of hospitals, food aid, Hamas, or the 60,000 Palestinians estimated to have died. The humanitarian crisis is immense — but it’s outside my expertise. Attacks on journalists? That is where I have something to add.

Killing journalists is vile. It breaks international law. And it robs the world of the very people who make sense of hospitals, food aid, Hamas, and civilian death tolls. I am devastated for the families of the journalists killed.