A total of 128 journalists were killed around the world in 2025, more than half of them in the Middle East, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said on Thursday.

The grim toll, up from 2024, “is not just a statistic, it’s a global red alert for our colleagues,” IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger told AFP.

The press group voiced particular alarm over the situation in the Palestinian territories, where it recorded 56 media professionals killed in 2025 as Israel’s war with Hamas ground on in Gaza.

“We’ve never seen anything like this: so many deaths in such a short time, in such a small area,” Bellanger said.

Journalists were also killed in Yemen, Ukraine, Sudan, Peru, India and elsewhere.

Bellanger condemned what he called “impunity” for those behind the attacks.

“Without justice, it allows the killers of journalists to thrive,” he warned.

Meanwhile, the IFJ said that across the globe, 533 journalists were currently in prison – a figure that has more than doubled over the past half-decade.

China once again topped the list as the worst jailer of reporters with 143 behind bars, including in Hong Kong, where authorities have been criticised by Western nations for imposing national security laws quashing dissent.

The IFJ’s count for the number of journalists killed is typically far higher than that of Reporters Without Borders, due to different counting methods. This year’s IFJ toll also included nine accidental deaths.

Reporters Without Borders said 67 journalists were killed in the course of their work this year.

It said in the report that Israel was responsible for nearly half of all journalists killed this year worldwide, with 29 Palestinian reporters slain by Israeli forces in Gaza.

In Pakistan, the Pakistan Press Foundation documented at least 137 confirmed incidents targeting journalists and media professionals in 2025, including eight killings.

It also reported 35 incidents of physical assault and manhandling, along with two journalists injured while on assignment, five detentions, two abductions and four attacks on property, including raids.