Recently, various news related to the Israel-Palestine conflict has become the focus of international attention. As the key messengers bringing the latest updates from the conflict, war correspondents stationed at the forefront of the Israel-Palestine conflict are the “crucial messengers” enabling us to access this news. However, based on the latest developments in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the situation of these “messengers” at the front lines does not seem to be favorable.
It’s worth noting that as early as the beginning of this month, according to reports from the Palestinian Journalists Association cited by official media, as of the 6th of this month, 75 journalists and media workers have lost their lives in this Israel-Palestine conflict. The situation of war correspondents continuously losing their lives is ongoing. According to reports from foreign media quoted by Reference News, another journalist from Al Jazeera died in an Israeli drone strike.
This is not the end. The journalists who lost their lives in this Israel-Palestine conflict are not limited to media from Arab countries. On the 7th of this month, according to reports cited by Global Times from foreign media, intentional attacks by the Israeli military resulted in the death of a Reuters journalist and injuries to several other journalists. Considering that the Israel-Palestine conflict erupted only in October, at least one journalist per day is now losing their life due to the repercussions of the conflict.
It is evident that the number of journalists who have lost their lives in this Israel-Palestine conflict is indeed astonishing. It’s worth noting that even in the Second World War, only 68 journalists died. As an armed conflict that erupted this year, the frequency of war correspondents’ deaths in the Israel-Palestine conflict is likely to have far exceeded that of World War II. The high casualty rate of war correspondents reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict is closely related to the current military strategy of the Israeli forces.
Of course, as a profession that requires collecting information on-site and reporting it to the public, the inherent duty of journalists is to go to the scene of the news and use their own actions to report the true situation of what is happening. War correspondents are no exception; their essential work involves documenting ongoing wars through words, pictures, videos, and other means. However, considering the crucial factor that “bullets and shells do not have eyes,” the danger of their work is very high. Unlike regular news reporting, the situation on the battlefield is complex, volatile, and constantly changing, with valuable information embedded in the process of the two sides engaging in combat.
For example, the world-renowned war correspondent Robert Capa often went to the front lines of wars to collect news. During this process, Capa captured many hall-of-fame-worthy works, such as during the Sino-Japanese War, his works in the Battle of Taierzhuang reported to the world the course of the battle. He also took a famous photo, “Defenders of China,” in Wuhan, which vividly portrayed the unyielding image of Chinese soldiers and civilians in the face of Japanese invaders, making it known worldwide.
These important pieces of news information rely on war correspondents to discover. In this situation, a small change in battlefield dynamics may be an important news story. This requires war correspondents to empathize with the situation and collect this information. For example, China’s war correspondent Chen Huihui, stationed at the forefront of the Israel-Palestine conflict, does this. According to her description, she often needs to visit the front lines of Israeli artillery fire to gather news information. In this process, experiences like the sound of “Iron Dome” interception missiles whizzing past her ears have become routine for her.
Of course, that kind of alert that requires taking cover in bomb shelters is commonplace for her. She has experienced social disorder caused by sudden attacks during wars in Israel and the Gaza Strip. She has even developed the ability to distinguish whether the shells are coming from the Gaza Strip or Israel by listening to the sound of explosions. It can be said without exaggeration that Chen Huihui is a firsthand witness to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
This type of news reporting is undoubtedly the most authentic. It is clear that Chen Huihui, by experiencing the war firsthand, uses her lens to show the actual situation on the front lines of the Israel-Palestine conflict to the audience. By collecting various details of the ongoing war, she organizes these fragmented pieces of information into news to make the audience understand the dynamics of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Similarly, war correspondents need sharp observational skills to judge and capture information that can form news reports, and then organize them into logical news development. Soldiers on the battlefield, as direct participants and controllers of the battlefield dynamics, often know the latest information on the battlefield.
Similarly, civilians living in conflict zones may also be aware of the latest information on the battlefield. However, neither the soldiers of the warring parties nor the civilian population are obligated to inform the general public about this latest battlefield information. In this situation, war correspondents need to go to the front lines of the war to ask these eyewitnesses about the latest information. Perhaps a single sentence from the other side could contain important news developments.
For example, war correspondent Liu Xiaoqian, who delved deep into the largest anti-government armed group in South America, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is a hardcore and fearless journalist. During his interviews, he lived and hid with guerrilla fighters, evading reconnaissance from government military aircraft together. Liu Xiaoqian learned about the daily lives of these guerrilla fighters, and through communication with them, he informed us about the combat situation of this armed organization.
Through Liu Xiaoqian’s reports, we learned about the daily lives and thoughts of those guerrilla fighters. Therefore, this kind of work at the forefront of the battlefield also requires war correspondents to have crisis management capabilities. After all, the front lines of the battlefield are too dangerous, and even experienced war correspondents can have accidents unintentionally. It’s worth noting that Robert Capa died during the Vietnam War when he accidentally touched a landmine.
Therefore, war correspondents must undergo safety training before going on duty, as it involves protecting their own lives. For example, China’s famous war correspondent Qiu Yongzheng, who has a military background, still underwent special training for self-protection in the armed police special police academy before heading to Afghanistan for coverage.
Similarly, war correspondents wear distinctive clothing when reporting from the front lines to be recognized by the warring parties. However, these safety measures can only ensure that war correspondents try to survive among the firing parties. Still, if the warring parties specifically target war correspondents, these measures are basically ineffective. This is evident in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
After all, for the Israeli military, their performance at the beginning of the war can only be described as disappointing, causing astonishment worldwide. The formidable image of military power that had been constructed globally was directly shattered by the “Aqsa Flood.” On this point, the government certainly does not want the media to systematically report on it, so the Israeli military has motives against war correspondents.
After all, psychological warfare is also an important component of modern warfare, and this is no exception in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Therefore, to ensure its advantage in psychological warfare, the Israeli military, as the morally unjust party, will undoubtedly take some actions to “control public opinion.” Of course, similar things have also been done by the Ukrainian military. In the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, to establish a just image in the psychological warfare, the Ukrainian military also attacked Russian war correspondents.
In addition to this, because the Israeli government has been hijacked by extreme right-wing forces, many of the orders it issues are extremely extreme. For example, in the recent acts of violence by the Israeli military against prisoners and civilians in the Gaza Strip, many have crossed the bottom line of human conscience, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis. If all these things were exposed, it would undoubtedly have a very negative impact on Israel’s future development and international status. Of course, from the perspective of the Israeli military, they certainly do not want these behaviors that cannot stand the light to be known worldwide.
In this situation, the most efficient way for the Israeli military to prevent the world from knowing is to physically eliminate those who report these battlefield situations. Even NGOs from Western countries acknowledge this. Therefore, war correspondents currently reporting in the Gaza Strip naturally attract “extra attention” from the Israeli military, and the characteristic performance is that the death rate of war correspondents in the Israel-Palestine conflict has become the highest in years.
