CHICAGO — Twenty-two Palestinian journalists have been killed and communication has been cut off with the outside world due to Israeli bombardments, in efforts to silence the reality in Gaza, a Chicago journalist says.

About 27 journalists are confirmed dead, 22 Palestinian, 4 Israeli and one Lebanese. Eight more journalists were reported injured, and nine others are missing or detained, according to data collected by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

All the deaths are reported as ‘dangerous assignments’ on their website as opposed to ‘murderer or in crossfire combat,’ which Chicago-based Journalist Deanna Othman says is a disparity in the reporting of Palestinian journalist deaths — despite heavily targeted Israeli attacks.

“Some of them are not even receiving the support from their workplaces after they have been killed,” Othman said.

Issam Abdullah, a Beirut-based videographer for Reuters was killed in an Israeli shelling attack near the Lebanon border on Oct. 13.

In this photo provided by Reuters, Issam Abdallah, a videographer for the news agency, holds a kitten while posing for a picture in Saaideh, Lebanon, on July 4, 2023. Abdallah was killed Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, when an Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon. Six other journalists were injured in the incident. (Emilie Madi/Reuters via AP)

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry asked Beirut’s mission to the United Nations to file a complaint against Israel over the attack, calling it a “flagrant violation and a crime against freedom of opinion and press.” The statement was carried by the state-run National News Agency.

Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told The Associated Press, “We are aware of the incident with the Reuters journalist, and we are looking into it.”

“His death was not even discussed as a result of Israeli bombing, and this is very important,” Othman said.

A week before his death, he had posted a tribute to Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist who was shot in the head by Israeli forces. She was killed by “lethal force without justification” and she was “violated her right to life,” a UN report said.

“She was a target and assassinated. It speaks to the power of her work and her voice, that going to the lengths to murder her was necessary for Israel to silence her,” Othman said.

While many journalists have been killed since the initial Oct. 7 attacks, Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh lost multiple members in one airstrike.

“They take revenge on us in our children?” he said, AP reported, kneeling over his son’s bloodied body, still wearing his protective press vest from that day’s work.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh holds his grandson killed in an Israeli airstrike at Nuisserat refugee camp, outside a hospital in Deir al Balah, south of the Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter, and grandson were killed in the strike. (AP Photo/Ali Mahmoud)

The wife, son and daughter of the Al Jazeera chief correspondent were all killed in Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday.

With over one million Instagram followers attending to his posts of children being recovered from underneath rubble to violent airstrikes hitting Gaza, Dahdouh has fore fronted the reality of Gaza’s grounds.

“Their lives are being lost and their voices are being silenced. They have to also endure the pain and suffering of losing family members as well,” Othman said.

The Gaza Heath Ministry of Heath has confirmed over 7,000 Palestinians killed, including 2,913 minors.

 Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other, as Israel’s military said it was “expanding” its ground operations.