Gaza’s journalists have been named the winners of the 2024 Unesco/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize for their coverage of Israel’s onslaught on the Palestinian territory, the UN’s cultural agency said in a statement.

Established in 1997, the annual prize “honours an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger”, Unesco said.

“In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances,” said Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals, who recommended the winners of the prize.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said on May 1 that, according to preliminary investigations, at least 97 journalists and media workers are among the more than 35,000 killed since the onslaught on Gaza began on October 7.

The dead included 92 Palestinian, two Israeli, and three Lebanese journalists.