Fellow journalists mourn during the funeral of Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with the Al Jazeera television network, who was killed in a reported Israeli air strike, in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on January 7, 2024. Dahdouh's father, Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Al-Dahdouh, was himself wounded in the arm and lost his wife and two other children in Israeli bombardment in the initial weeks of the war.(Photo by Mohammed ABED / AFP 

NEW YORK — Last year was the deadliest for journalists in recent history, with at least 124 reporters killed — and Israel responsible for nearly 70 percent of that total, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported Wednesday.

The uptick in killings, which marks a 22 percent increase over 2023, reflects "surging levels of international conflict, political unrest and criminality worldwide," the CPJ said.

It was the deadliest year for reporters and media workers since CPJ began keeping records more than three decades ago, with journalists murdered across 18 different countries, it said.

A total of 85 journalists died in the Israeli-Hamas war, "all at the hands of the Israeli military," the CPJ said, adding that 82 of them were Palestinians.

Sudan and Pakistan recorded the second highest number of journalists and media workers killed, with six each.

In Mexico, which has a reputation as one of the most dangerous countries for reporters, five were killed, with CPJ reporting it had found "persistent flaws" in Mexico's mechanisms for protecting journalists.

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And in Haiti, where two reporters were murdered, widespread violence and political instability have sown so much chaos that "gangs now openly claim responsibility for journalist killings," the report said.

Other deaths took place in countries such as Myanmar, Mozambique, India and Iraq.

"Today is the most dangerous time to be a journalist in CPJ's history," said the group's CEO Jodie Ginsberg.

"The war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and demonstrates a major deterioration in global norms on protecting journalists," she said.

CPJ, which has kept records on journalist killings since 1992, said that 24 of the reporters were deliberately killed because of their work in 2024.

Freelancers, the report said, were among the most vulnerable because of their lack of resources, and accounted for 43 of the killings in 2024.

The year 2025 is not looking more promising, with six journalists already killed in the first weeks of the year, CPJ said.

© Agence France-Presse