The balance of Reporters Without Borders: 54 journalists murdered and 550 imprisoned in 2024
The NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its report this Thursday, in which it reports the “record number” of 54 journalists murdered, most of them in Palestine, as well as 550 journalists who remain imprisoned, 7% more than the previous year. In its annual report, it also indicates that 55 informants have been kidnapped this year. With all these numbers, the organization speaks of an “alarming increase in attacks against journalists, especially in conflict zones.”
The Israeli army has been the most lethal organization for journalists and the Palestinian territories, the most dangerous. According to RSF figures, in 2024, 16 journalists have died in Palestine and another two in Lebanon, all of them at the hands of Israeli soldiers. Since the conflict in Gaza began after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, 159 journalists have died in the Middle East, 42 of them while carrying out their duties. The majority, 145, have died in the Palestinian territories.
Pakistan (7 journalists killed), Bangladesh (5) and Mexico (5) are behind Palestine in terms of journalists killed. Another of the conflicts that attracts global attention, that of Ukraine, has been the scene of the death of two other informants.
In total, of the 54 journalists killed, 31 have been in conflict zones – in the Middle East, Iraq, Sudan, Burma and Ukraine – bringing the number of journalists killed in these areas to its highest level in five years (57.4%).
Regarding the 55 kidnapped journalists, 70% are in Syria. “The majority of them were kidnapped by the Islamic State during the war, and ten years later, it is still extremely difficult, if not practically impossible, to obtain information about their whereabouts,” said the NGO, which considers that the fall of the Bashar al-Assad’s regime “opens a window of hope for journalism.”
Finally, of the 55 media professionals currently held captive in the world, two were kidnapped in 2024 by the Houthis in Yemen.
