The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that 170 Palestinians killed during the Gaza war and publicly identified as journalists or media workers were actually members of terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“Following extensive research, the IDF is now revealing that 170 Gazans killed during the war who were presented as journalists and media personnel were in fact serving as terrorists for terror organizations in the Strip, foremost among them Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” the military said, according to The Times of Israel.
According to the IDF’s findings, 118 were affiliated with Hamas’s military wing, 49 with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, two with the Popular Resistance Committees, and one with the Mujahideen Brigades.
The military further said 17 of the 170 participated in the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, when terrorists stormed communities in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Some individuals identified by the IDF had also worked with major international news organizations, including Reuters, the BBC, CNN, AFP, AP, Le Monde, and ABC Australia, according to the Israeli military.
IDF Releases Evidence and Identifying Records
Israel published the names through a dedicated IDF database containing information on each individual, including alleged organizational roles, identification numbers, photographs, and supporting intelligence.
The IDF said the evidence includes documents produced by terrorist organizations and materials recovered inside Gaza. Israel has previously released captured Hamas and Islamic Jihad records that it says include personnel lists, training records, telephone directories, and salary documents connecting some Gaza-based media personnel to terrorist organizations.
The military said the disclosures challenge repeated accusations that Israeli forces deliberately targeted journalists during the Gaza war.
“The information now being revealed illustrates the gap between the picture presented to the world and the reality on the ground,” the IDF said, arguing that the evidence demonstrates that Israeli forces target terrorists rather than journalists because of their profession.
Press Watchdog Has Already Removed Names
The disclosure comes after the Committee to Protect Journalists conducted its own comprehensive review of its Gaza casualty database.
In June, CPJ acknowledged removing eight people after subsequent evidence established they were Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad combatants. CPJ said at the time that Hamas and Islamic Jihad obituaries identifying previously listed journalists as combatants helped prompt a broader review.
On September 24, CPJ announced that its completed review had resulted in 22 individuals being removed from its database, six being reinstated and 12 being reclassified for various reasons. CPJ maintains that affiliation with a political or militant organization alone does not exclude someone from being considered a journalist, but says individuals actively serving as combatants are excluded from its casualty database.
The IDF’s newly released list is substantially larger, potentially intensifying scrutiny over how journalist casualty figures from Gaza have been compiled and reported internationally.
