Gaza’s Photo and Video Journalists to Receive ‘Golden Pen’ Award for War Coverage
Photo and video journalists operating inside Gaza are set to receive the annual Golden Pen of Freedom award on Monday, in recognition of the dangers they have faced while covering the conflict, according to the industry body behind the prize.
The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) said the 2026 award will be presented to representatives of global news agencies still active in the territory — Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters — "whose local journalists continue to provide consistent, professional coverage under extremely challenging conditions."
"For over two and a half years, journalists in Gaza have recorded death, destruction, and human suffering in unparalleled terms," the award citation reads. "They are as much victims of the conflict as they are chroniclers of a war that erupted — and continues — around them."
The conflict began after Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,221 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s subsequent military campaign has killed more than 72,800 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says Israeli forces have killed more than 220 journalists in Gaza since the war began, at least 70 of them while carrying out their professional duties. The Israeli military has repeatedly stated it does not deliberately target journalists, though it has acknowledged killing a number of individuals it claims were militant "terrorists" operating under the cover of media roles.
The award ceremony, taking place during WAN-IFRA’s 2026 World News Media Congress in Marseille, France, will feature AFP photographer Mohammed Abed, who worked in Gaza until April 2024 before transferring to the agency’s Cairo bureau. His presence underscores the personal toll: many of his colleagues have been injured or killed in the line of work.
Since the war erupted, Israel has barred foreign journalists from independently entering the blockaded Gaza Strip, leaving local Palestinian media professionals as the primary eyewitnesses to the devastation. The Golden Pen of Freedom, the citation explains, "acknowledges the sacrifice and endurance of local Palestinian media professionals living and working in a war zone. It also recognises colleagues injured and killed in the course of doing their job."
Despite a ceasefire deal reached in October, violence has persisted in Gaza, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violations. The award, granted amid ongoing hostilities, highlights the increasingly perilous environment for journalists in conflict zones — a trend that press freedom advocates warn is eroding the public’s access to independent reporting.