Gaza Journalists win WAN-IFRA “Golden Pen of Freedom” award

By Abdullah Lukman

Professional photo and video journalists working in Gaza, Palestine, have been named winners of the prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom award for 2026.

The globally coveted award is given by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in recognition of the winners courage and commitment to journalistic reporting in the face of the Isreali war on Gaza.

The award will be presented on Monday, June 1 during the opening of the 2026 World News Media Congress in Marseille, France.

Unveiling the winners, WAN-IFRA said the award acknowledges the sacrifices made by Palestinian journalists who have continued documenting the conflict despite extreme danger, displacement and loss of life.

According to the global journalists body, more than 260 journalists have been killed since the war began following the October 7, 2023 Hamas resistance action on Israel.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that at least 64 journalists were deliberately targeted by Israeli forces, an act regarded under international law as a war crime.

The CPJ noted that with heavy restriction of international media access to Gaza, local Palestinian journalists who were the primary source of images and reports from their work have played critical role in exposing the scale of destruction and humanitarian suffering caused by the conflict.

David Walmsley, President of the World Editors Forum and Editor-in-Chief of Canada’s Globe and Mail, described the Gaza journalists as fearless professionals whose reporting ensured the world remained informed about the crisis in Gaza.

Representatives of Agence France-Presse (AFP), The Associated Press (AP), and Reuters will receive the award on behalf of local journalists working for the three international news agencies in Gaza.

As part of the award presentation, WAN-IFRA will host a special exhibition during the Congress featuring photographs from Gaza captured by award-winning journalists from AFP, AP and Reuters.

The event will also include a screening of the documentary Inside Gaza, which follows AFP’s Palestinian journalists reporting under wartime conditions.

WAN-IFRA said its Media Freedom division has continued to support Palestinian journalists through its Social Impact Reporting Initiative (SIRI), particularly freelance women journalists in Gaza.

Since 2024, the initiative has provided grants, mentorship, training and workspace support to 60 journalists, with an additional 30 currently benefiting from the programme.

The Golden Pen of Freedom is WAN-IFRA’s annual press freedom award established in 1961 to recognise individuals and organisations defending independent journalism worldwide.

The 2025 award went to the Independent Press of Ukraine.