How Palestinian Journalists Are Redefining Reporting in the Gaza War

Israel has killed roughly 250 journalists since launching the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023 — a toll that exceeds the combined total of journalists killed in all wars over the past 150 years. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called it the "deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists" the organization has ever documented.

Jonathan Dagher, the Middle East head of Reporters Without Borders, described the targeting of journalists as "a tragedy for journalism." UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called Gaza a "death trap" for reporters. Yet beyond statements and condolences, Israel has never been held accountable.

Silence and obstacles

The silence of the international community, combined with a lack of support from Western media, has, according to the article, enabled Israel to continue its campaign and normalize the killing of journalists.

Meanwhile, the notion of "neutrality" that many Western outlets champion is being questioned. When reporting on Palestinian deaths, these organizations often use the passive voice to avoid assigning responsibility to Israel. The argument that Hamas uses civilians as "human shields" is frequently repeated, while the historical context of occupation, territorial expansion and the displacement of Palestinians is rarely laid out in full.

The killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif in a deliberate airstrike outside al-Shifa Hospital in August 2025 is one example. CNN carried Israel's claim that al-Sharif worked for a Hamas unit as early as its second paragraph, even though Al Jazeera rejected it. Earlier, Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, had warned of "repeated threats and accusations" directed at al-Sharif.

In September 2025, Israel killed 22 people, including five journalists, in a "double-tap" airstrike on a hospital in Gaza. Israel said it had targeted a "Hamas camera," but Reuters — whose journalist was killed in the strike — confirmed the camera belonged to the agency.

Israeli media has also come under pressure. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government imposed a ban on Al Jazeera, calling it a security threat, a move the network called "criminal behavior" and a violation of international law. In 2021, the building housing Al Jazeera's Gaza office was destroyed in an airstrike. In 2022, reporter Shireen Abu Akleh — regarded as the voice of Palestine — was shot dead by Israeli soldiers while working in the West Bank; the shooter was never prosecuted.

Double standards

The contrast in coverage has also been flagged. When reporting on Ukraine, global media humanize the victims, but that standard is often absent for Palestinians. More than 21,000 children in Gaza have been killed over the past three years, yet their faces and stories are often submerged in statistics.

According to the article, Western media also frequently lacks historical context: more than 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced from their homes, leading to the establishment of Israel in 1948; successive Israeli governments expanded illegal settlements on Palestinian land; settler violence and settlement expansion are often presented in isolation, while, the article says, the Israeli government has armed, funded and shielded those involved.

Treating Israel — the occupying power in Gaza and the West Bank — and the Palestinians as two equal sides is seen in the article as a problem. Objectivity, it argues, requires highlighting Israel's use of excessive force and banned weapons against residential areas, acts that violate the laws of war. Instead, Palestinian experts and commentators are often pressured to condemn Hamas as a condition for being heard.

Voices that will not be silenced

Biased coverage has sparked pushback in many newsrooms. More than 1,500 Western journalists signed an open letter protesting the way the Gaza war is covered; eight BBC journalists also signed an open letter accusing the broadcaster of bias in favor of Israel, downplaying Palestinian casualties and restricting words such as "genocide," "apartheid" and "occupation." Many journalists of color resigned in protest.

Despite unprecedented attacks, Palestinian reporters continue to report, many using social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to spread their stories, even at the risk of their lives.

Wael al-Dahdouh, the former Gaza bureau chief for Al Jazeera Arabic, said after Israel killed his wife, daughter, two sons and a grandson in separate airstrikes: "They take revenge on us through our children? That's fine. We will stay. We will continue. This is our path, and we chose it consciously. We will not stop."

Images from Palestine have also shaken global public opinion, especially among young Americans — a group that mainly gets its news through social media — and helped spark student protests at Columbia University that spread to many other campuses.

Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda, an Emmy winner for her reports on daily life in Gaza, has become a defining figure. Her familiar greeting on social media is: "Hello, I'm Bisan, and I'm still alive..."

"I have no dreams left. My only dream is to survive this, to tell the story of those who could not survive," she said on the 27th day of the war.

According to the article, Owda, along with hundreds of other Palestinian reporters, has done exactly that — challenging a media environment long dominated by major organizations tied to power that decide who gets to speak and who gets to be seen. The war in Gaza, in that sense, is also a war over the truth.