Reporters Without Borders says Israel is the leading killer of journalists in 2025

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Israel has remained the leading killer of journalists for the third consecutive year, naming it "the worst enemy of journalists" in 2025.

In its annual report, the Paris-based press freedom organisation identified 67 journalists killed, 503 detained, 135 missing and 20 held as hostages around the world this year.

RSF said the Israeli army was responsible for nearly half (43%) of all crimes committed against journalists worldwide over the past 12 months.

The report counted at least 29 Palestinian journalists murdered by Israeli forces in Gaza since December 2024, out of a total of almost 220 killed since October 2023.

RSF said the Israeli government carried out "a massacre — unprecedented in recent history — of the Palestinian press," in 2025, adding Israel attempted to justify crimes with "a global propaganda campaign to spread baseless accusations that portray Palestinian journalists as terrorists."

There were several highly covered instances of Israeli attacks on journalists in Gaza, including double-tap strikes on a hospital which killed five media professionals working for several international publications and a targeted strike on a media tent near a hospital which killed an entire team of five Al Jazeera journalists, both in August.

"This is where the hatred of journalists leads," said RSF Director General Thibaut Bruttin in the report.

"Key witnesses to history, journalists have gradually become collateral victims, inconvenient eyewitnesses, bargaining chips, pawns in diplomatic games, men and women to be 'eliminated.'

"We must be wary of false notions about reporters: no one gives their lives for journalism — it is taken from them; journalists do not just die — they are killed."

RSF also named several leaders, institutions and organisations it said "have most severely repressed or obstructed press freedom" in 2025.

The "Press Freedom Predators" list included Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Mexico, the Israeli armed forces and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.

"It is perfectly legitimate to criticise the media — criticism should serve as a catalyst for change that ensures the survival of the free press, a public good," Bruttin said.

"But it must never descend into hatred of journalists, which is largely born out of — or deliberately stoked by — the tactics of armed forces and criminal organisations."

Mexico was listed as the second most dangerous country for the press; Nine journalists were killed in 2025, reportedly the deadliest of the past three years in the country, with RSF pointing to organised crime groups for the surge in the country.

RSF described the situation in Mexico as "a clear failure to protect journalists," citing Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's signed pledge to defend press freedom upon her election in October 2024.

The next most dangerous countries for media professionals were Ukraine (with three journalists killed by targeted Russian drone strikes and more injured) and Sudan (with four journalists killed while working including at least two who died after being abducted by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group).

China topped the list for the most journalists imprisoned in the report, with 121 media professionals behind bars.

RSF cited the examples of Li Yanhe, a Taiwan-based publisher who was sentenced and stripped of his political rights for criticising the Chinese government, and Zhang Zhan, a citizen journalist who was incarcerated twice for her reporting of the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Russia had the second-most imprisoned journalists and the most foreign media professionals detained of any country in 2025. Russia holds 48 journalists in prison, 26 of whom are foreigners (all Ukrainian).

Israel had the second-most foreign journalists imprisoned, with 20 reporters — all Palestinian — behind bars.

One year after the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, many journalists previously detained by the regime are yet to be recovered, making Syria the country with the highest number of missing journalists.

Syria had the second-highest number of journalists held hostage worldwide, while Houthi rebels in Yemen were responsible for taking the most journalists hostage.

Several other international organisations have published data on crimes against journalists in 2025, with most showing similar patterns.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), a Brussels-based media union organisation, counted 111 journalists killed this year in a report published yesterday. IFJ reported almost half (46%) were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Committee to Protect Journalists similarly reported 110 journalists killed in 2025, about 46% of whom were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza.

UNESCO said 91 journalists were killed in 2025, though the database — last updated today — said about one third (32.9%) were killed in Gaza.