A collaborative investigation by international media outlets has shed light on the circumstances behind more than 100 Palestinian journalists and media workers being killed in the Gaza conflict, some while wearing a press vest, AFP reports.

A consortium led by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories and involving around 50 journalists from 13 organisations including AFP, The Guardian and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism group (ARIJ) took part in the four-month probe.

“More than 100 journalists and media workers have been killed,” Forbidden Stories’ Laurent Richard said in an editorial accompanying the Gaza Project’s publication.

“Today’s Gaza journalists have long known that their ‘press’ vests do not protect them,” he wrote. “Worse still, the protective gear might further expose them.”

Carlos Martinez de la Serna, of the Committee to Protect Journalists, expressed shock at the toll. “This is one of the most flagrant attacks on press freedom that I remember,” he told the investigation.

The probe found that four journalists were allegedly killed or wounded by a drone while wearing a press vest. Fourteen in total were killed, wounded or allegedly targeted while wearing their protective gear describing them as a member of the “press”. At least 40 journalists and media workers were killed while at home in Gaza, it added.