Media advocacy group reporters without borders say the number of journalists killed in the line of duty fell this year, despite some deaths reported in Gaza in the past two months.
According to it’s annual report, In the first 11 months of this year, 45 journalists were killed carrying out their work, down from 61 last year.
It was the smallest number since 33 died in 2002, largely due to a major drop in Latin America.
While some 63 journalists have been killed in the Middle East since the October 7 start of fighting between Israel and Islamist group Hamas, only 17 of those deaths fell under RSF’s definition.
The decline is due to efforts by inter-governmental organisations and NGOs to combat impunity, as well as to greater “prudence” by reporters themselves, he said.
Of the 17 journalists RSF counted as killed carrying out their profession in the Middle East since October 7, 13 were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, three died in Lebanon and one was killed in Israel by Hamas.
AFP last week said its investigation showed that Israeli tank fire was responsible for killing Reuters cameraman Issam Abdallah on October 13 and wounding six others, including AFP photographer Christina Assi.
A spokesperson for the Israeli army said the journalists were in an “active combat zone” in southern Lebanon
There was a sharp drop in Latin America where six reporters were killed, down from 26 in 2022. In Mexico alone, the number fell to four from 11 the previous year.
RSF warned that Mexico remains dangerous for journalists, citing continued kidnappings and attacks.
Of the 84 journalists counted as missing worldwide, about a third are Mexican.
The number of jailed reporters declined to 521 from 569 in 2022, with Belarus joining China and Myanmar as “one of the three biggest prisons in the world”.
A total of 54 journalists are being held hostage, compared to 65 in 2022.
