Journalists who covered the Gaza war shared harrowing experiences of loss and survival, expressing deep disappointment at the global community’s muted response to the killing of media professionals at the hands of Israeli forces.
During the International Press Institute’s (IPI) World Congress and Media Innovation Festival 2025, a panel of journalists discussed the problems, anguish and heartbreaking moments they faced during the Gaza war, saying it was a “deep sense of abandonment” when they witnessed the violent attack on the press.
Al Jazeera Journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, who lost five members of his family, including his wife, in the Israeli attacks and found his surviving daughter under the rubble, asked: “What did my family do?”
Al-Dahdouh said it was a “unique and agonizing reality of journalism” that one had to choose between being “a journalist or a human being.”
He claimed that the international media did not respond adequately to the violence. “They left us alone,” he said, emphasizing that much more was needed.
Statistics shared by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) showed that at least 238 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel since October 7, 2023.
Rawan Damen, another senior journalist affiliated with Al-Arabia TVpraised Al-Dahdouh’s balanced reporting, distinguishing between the failure of mainstream international media to address the “genocide” and the efforts of independent media and some organizations that did speak out.
Laurent Richard, a French journalist, warned of the serious consequences of inaction, highlighting the “normalization” of the murder of journalists and a widespread lack of accountability.
“Before the war, we described Gaza as a big prison; now it is a big cemetery,” said Basel Khalaf, a journalist, while describing the situation in Gaza, urging global media to go beyond statistics and tell the human stories of Gazan reporters.
Khalaf also described the urgent needs of his colleagues in Gaza, including essential equipment, medical treatment for the wounded and freedom for those imprisoned by Israel, imploring the international press to keep the story alive.
