OPINION: Journalists in Gaza show true courage

Journalists who risk their lives to report the news with truth and accuracy in zones of conflict must be honored and recognized for their courage. It’s alarming to know that more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in World War I, World War II, Ukraine, Iraq, Vietnam and Afghanistan combined. On Sept. 1, Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported that over 250 global media outlets from over 70 countries coordinated a news blackout to protest Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, between October 2023 and August 2025, over 200 journalists and media workers have been killed by the Israeli army. Most were Palestinian because Israel has barred international media from entering Gaza. This means Palestinians have had to document their own demise. Under International Humanitarian Law, journalists are protected as non-combatants. They have the right to gather and disseminate news, including the ability to record video and law enforcement activities. Attacks against journalists that impede their fundamental rights constitute war crimes.

Israeli forces recently bombed the Nasser Hospital, the only fully functioning major hospital in southern Gaza. Five journalists were killed. Paramedics responding to the strike were killed in a second strike that was broadcast live. Viewers watched the murder of the paramedics in real time. This is a war crime.

These journalists gave their life so the world could see the on-the-ground suffering endured by people in Gaza.

These are the most recent deaths in Nasser Hospital. To name them is to honor them.

Mariam Abu Daggga: freelance photographer for the Associated Press.

Mohammed Salama: cameraman for Al Jazeera.

Moaz Abu Taha: 27-year-old freelance video journalist who could not afford a proper camera, so he filmed and photographed with his phone.

Ahmed Abu Aziz: correspondent for Middle East Eye and Quds Network.

Hatem Khaled: Reuters photographer who died from his wounds.

Hussam al-Masri: 48-year-old cameraman working with Reuters who left behind two sons and two daughters. Hussam was the last journalist to leave Nasser hospital during Israel’s first invasion of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Local New Mexican hero, Ernie Pyle, was an American war correspondent known for his stories about American soldiers during World War II. He was killed in action during the battle of Okinawa. He wanted to make sure Americans knew about the sacrifice of our soldiers. Pyle would have whole heartedly echoed the last words of Anas Al-Sharif, 28, well-known Al Jazeera correspondent, killed in a targeted attack on a tent that housed journalists near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

“If these words reach you, Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification.”

Americans deserve to be informed about the genocide in Gaza. We need to know how our tax dollars are being spent; how U.S. law is being broken when our weapons are used against a civilian population, why children in Gaza are deliberately being starved to death while trucks lined up at border crossings filled with lifesaving supplies are being blocked from entering Gaza. When doctors are being targeted — we need to know. Palestinian journalists have paid a steep price to report on the horrors of a 58-year illegal occupation of Gaza by Israel. Media outlets across our state and country must show the same courage. Journalistic ethics is the bedrock of Democracy.