72 of the 99 journalists killed in 2023 were killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict, making the last 12 months the deadliest for the media in almost a decade, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said, AFP reports.

Killings of reporters would have dropped globally year-on-year had it not been for the deaths in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon, the CPJ said, although fatalities were stable in Somalia and the Philippines.

The toll is the highest since 2015 and an increase of nearly 44 per cent on 2022’s figures.

“In December 2023, CPJ reported that more journalists were killed in the first three months of the Israel-Gaza conflict than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year,” the CPJ said.

The 72 journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict also include three Lebanese and two Israeli victims, the organization said.

“Journalists in Gaza are bearing witness on the frontlines,” said CPJ chief executive Jodie Ginsberg.

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