The Gaza Government Media Office confirmed on Saturday that the number of journalists killed by the Israeli occupation since the start of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip has risen to 240, following the martyrdom of photojournalist Khaled Muhammad al-Madhoun, who worked with Palestine TV.

The office strongly condemned what it described as a systematic campaign of assassinations and deliberate targeting of journalists aimed at silencing the truth and covering up Israel’s war crimes. It called on the International Federation of Journalists, the Arab Journalists Union, and press organizations worldwide to denounce these ongoing crimes.

In its statement, the office held Israel, the US administration, and complicit Western powers such as the UK, Germany, and France fully responsible for the atrocities, accusing them of enabling and justifying the killing of media workers in Gaza.

The statement urged the international community, rights organizations, and all media bodies to condemn Israel’s crimes against journalists, work toward prosecuting the occupation in international courts, exert serious and effective pressure to halt the genocidal war, and ensure protection for journalists and media workers in Gaza.

A Systematic War Against the Truth

The killing of al-Madhoun follows a grim pattern of Israel’s deliberate elimination of Palestinian voices. In recent weeks, occupation forces murdered journalists Anas al-Sharif, Mohammad Qraiqea, and photojournalists Mohammad Nawfal and Ibrahim Daher.

The targeting is not limited to physical elimination. Before his killing, al-Sharif was the subject of an Israeli incitement campaign, falsely accused of being part of Hamas’ armed wing—allegations he categorically denied. Such smear tactics are seen as part of a broader strategy to delegitimize and criminalize Palestinian journalism.

At the same time, Israel has imposed an absolute ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza, effectively sealing off independent coverage. In a telling incident, Sky News revealed that Israel even prohibited its team from filming aerial footage during an aid drop, threatening to cancel the operation if images of Gaza were broadcast.

The scale of journalist killings in Gaza has now surpassed every modern conflict. More reporters have been killed in less than a year of Israel’s onslaught than during the combined toll of World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, the Afghanistan War, and the Yugoslav Wars.

This unprecedented figure highlights not only the brutality of Israel’s war but also its deliberate intent to wage a war against information itself—erasing witnesses, silencing documentation, and murdering those who dare to tell the world the truth about Gaza’s suffering.

As the genocide continues, the people of Gaza not only endure bombardment, famine, and displacement, but also witness the targeted execution of those who carry their stories to the world. (ILKHA)