Reporting on Science and conflict in Gaza and beyond
Why should wars and conflict be reported on in science journalism? A panel of experts explain. By Zainab Hussain
“These aren’t easy stories to report on,” says Nisha Gaind, Nature’s European Bureau Chief. She has reported on post-conflict settings in Ukraine and Rwanda, and coaches editors in reporting on conflict.
Gaind was speaking at an online panel hosted by ABSW on February 27, 2025, where panellists discussed how to report on science in conflict, how science impacts and is being impacted by war, the level of destruction war has on communities and institutions, and how education and research drive change, even in the most challenging environments.
The panel discussion had a focus on Gaza, where the Israeli military has killed more people daily than in any other conflict this century. Since October 2022, life expectancy in Gaza has dropped from 76 years to just 41 years. And at least 175 journalists and media workers are amongst those killed, as well as countless academics, medical professionals, and humanitarian aid workers.
Reporting from these areas and situations is clearly dangerous – so why do it?
For one, there is a responsibility, Gaind says. “Where there are people, there are invariably scientists, and it is our job to tell the stories of those scientific communities”. And every conflict is important, she adds, whether in the Middle East, Ukraine, Congo or elsewhere.
Miryam Naddaf, who is a science reporter at Nature and lived through the uprising and armed conflict in Syria that started in 2011, tells us that “any reporting of science that forgets the effects of conflict on science is not reflective of how science works across the world”.
Journalists are important, independent sources. They need to document and raise the voices of science, scientists, casualties, and witnesses to war crimes, to help inform and combat misinformation. “Don’t stop talking,” says Asmaa Abusamra, head of the Community Service and Continuing Education Centre at the University College of Applied Sciences, Gaza, Palestine. “Even with a cease-fire, a lot [of what is] happening on the ground is tragic.”
Zainab Hussain is a freelance health writer and researcher with interests in global health, inequalities, and the human experience. She has a background in Public Health and experience working in healthcare, NGOs, charities and academia.
