Cpj: record 129 journalists killed in 2025, 86 by Israel

There were 129 journalists killed worldwide last year, 'the highest number' recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) since the organisation began collecting data more than 30 years ago, and 'Israel was responsible for two-thirds of the deaths', with 86 journalists killed.

"At least 104 of the 129 journalists and media workers were killed during conflicts in 2025", the US-based organisation pointed out, noting that "although the number of journalists and media workers killed in Ukraine and Sudan increased in 2025 compared to the previous year, to four and nine deaths respectively, the numbers remained very low compared to Israel".

The organisation went on to highlight the increase in killings of journalists with drones: from two in 2023, the first year in which the CPJ documented these cases, to 39 in 2025. And 33 of these killings were reportedly conducted with military drones. "The growing number of journalists killed globally is fuelled by a persistent culture of impunity for attacks on the press," the organisation further denounced, noting that "very few transparent investigations have been conducted into the 47 cases of targeted killings documented by the CPJ in 2025, and no one has been held accountable in any of these cases".

The situation in the Gaza Strip was not one of the topics during US President Donald Trump's long State of the Union address. On Gaza, the president only mentioned the release of all hostages still alive and the return of the bodies of the deceased. "Can you believe it? Nobody thought it was possible." Compared to his focus on foreign policy in the day-to-day Oval Office, Trump in this speech focused mainly on the domestic issues of his political agenda: a deliberate choice, according to his advisers, to focus on the issues voters want with only a few months to go before the congressional midterm elections.