Seventy-two of the 99 journalists killed in 2023 were killed in the Israel-Hamas war, making the last 12 months the deadliest for the media in almost a decade, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.

Killings of reporters would have dropped globally year-on-year had it not been for the deaths in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon, the CPJ said, although fatalities were stable in Somalia and the Philippines.

The toll is the highest since 2015 and an increase of nearly 44 percent on 2022's figures.

"In December 2023, CPJ reported that more journalists were killed in the first three months of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year," the CPJ said.

Israel vowed to crush Hamas in response to the Islamist group's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians.

The 72 journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict also include three Lebanese and two Israeli victims, the organisation said.

"Journalists in Gaza are bearing witness on the frontlines," said CPJ chief executive Jodie Ginsberg.

"The immense loss suffered by Palestinian journalists in this war will have long-term impacts for journalism not just in the Palestinian territories but for the region and beyond. Every journalist killed is a further blow to our understanding of the world."

On February 7, the New York-based press freedom organisation said the number of journalists killed in the Gaza conflict had risen to 85.

CPJ has previously attacked what it calls "persecution" of journalists by Israeli forces, and is investigating whether a dozen journalists killed in the Gaza conflict were deliberately targeted by Israeli soldiers, which would constitute "a war crime".

The greatest reductions in journalist fatalities were registered in Ukraine and Mexico, which both went from 13 killings to two. (AFP)