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Two journalists in Gaza killed by an Israeli airstrike, as press freedom on a global scale at risk

05:42

Here & Now Newsroom

March 25, 2025

Family and friends mourn over the bodies of Palestine Today journalist Mohammad Mansour (L) and Hossam Shabat (R), a 23-year-old Al Jazeera journalist, who were killed by Israeli army on March 24, 2025 in Gaza Strip, Palestinian territories. Shabat's car was reportedly targeted in Beit Lahiya. (Abood Abosalma/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli airstrikes killed two Palestinian journalists in separate attacks on Monday, adding to the more than 170 journalists killed since the beginning of Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.

One of the reporters killed yesterday was 23-year-old Hossam Shabat, a correspondent in north Gaza for Al Jazeera. Israel claims he and other AJ journalists have links to Hamas’ militant wing, and that Shabat specifically engaged in attacks on Israel during the war. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called these unsubstantiated allegations.

Meanwhile, press freedom is being threatened across the globe. In Turkey, journalists have been detained by police amidst the current protests over the arrest of Istanbul's mayor. And here in the U.S., the Trump administration shuttered the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which aims to offer independent news coverage in areas where free press is threatened.

We discuss the threat to press freedom with Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of CPJ.

Click here for more coverage and different points of view.

This segment aired on March 25, 2025.

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