One of the most widely disseminated narratives about the war in Gaza is that more than 200 journalists have been killed by the IDF in what could amount to a grave war crime. The figures most frequently cited come from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), whose casualty list is widely used by media outlets and NGOs. These claims have helped shape the perception that Israel has systematically targeted innocent reporters and media workers.
Israel has consistently disputed this narrative, stating that many of the individuals described as journalists, and certainly all individuals specifically targeted, were in fact members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), or other militant groups. These claims were consistently dismissed. Yet independent analysis, including research by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, has found that 60% of those described as “journalists” or “media personnel” had documented ties to militant organizations. Additional cases have emerged in recent weeks.
In recent months, a growing body of information has begun to substantiate Israel’s claims. As militant groups and other organizations themselves have published martyrdom notices and tributes to fallen fighters, numerous individuals previously described as journalists have been openly acknowledged as members of Hamas, PIJ, or other armed factions. Importantly, these identifications come not from Israeli statements or evidence but from militant organizations and sources inside Gaza themselves. This article presents ten clear cases of individuals still listed by the CPJ as innocent journalists where the evidence shows otherwise.
This emerging evidence should prompt serious skepticism toward the prevailing narrative that Israel systematically targets innocent journalists and should compel the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to reassess its methodology in Gaza. Its heavy reliance on local sources, combined with the categorical dismissal of Israeli evidence, has repeatedly produced inaccurate classifications. These revelations should force a major reckoning. As militant groups themselves identify many of these supposed journalists as fighters and commanders, those who reflexively dismissed Israeli claims must now confront the possibility that the narrative they promoted was deeply flawed. A credible accounting of journalist fatalities requires correcting these errors.
Below are 10 of at least 35 documented cases in which individuals widely described as journalists were in fact combatants from Hamas and other groups. The evidence in these cases does not rely on Israeli claims, though accepting those claims would add dozens more. Instead, it comes from the militant organizations themselves and from local martyr notices and social media tributes, making these identifications difficult to dispute.
Note: For simplicity the title refers to Hamas, but several of the cases documented below involve members of other militant groups.
Yacoup Al-Borsh يعقوب عبد الكريم مصطفى البرش (ID 803505668, Age 33)
Yacoup Al-Borsh was killed on November 13, 2023, in an IDF airstrike on his family home in Jabalia. The CPJ, citing local media and family members, described Yacoup as a journalist for family-owned Namaa Radio and Naama Sports Club. However, extensive evidence shows a different picture. The Al-Borsh family has close ties to Hamas leadership. A relative, Dr. Muneer Al-Borsh, is Director General of Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health. Yacoup himself was a Hamas combatant. Numerous social media posts and martyr notices identify him as a fighter and “mujahid,” and photos and a video show him armed and in military uniform. Yacoup Al-Borsh is among the most extensively documented cases of a supposed “journalist” who was in fact a Hamas combatant.
Mahdi Al-Mamluk مهدي حسن محمد المملوك (ID 801389321, Age 38)
Mahdi Al-Mamluk was killed on November 11, 2024, in an airstrike near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. According to the CPJ, Al-Mamluk worked as a broadcast engineer for PIJ-affiliated channel Al-Quds Al-Youm TV and had been reporting on the siege of the hospital. However, PIJ itself later revealed a different reality. In an official publication listing 61 of its military commanders killed in the war, PIJ identified Al-Mamluk as one of its senior members. While CPJ cited colleagues who claimed he was merely “supervising coverage of the war and the people’s suffering,” PIJ’s own admission shows that this supposed civilian media worker was in fact a senior combatant. The case also exposes a recurring flaw in CPJ research: its routine reliance on family members and locals to establish civilian or journalistic status, despite the widely known risk Gazans face if they reveal that the dead were combatants. As this case demonstrates, such accounts often prove misleading once militant groups themselves publish their martyr lists.
Rizq Abu Shakian رزق باسم رزق أبو شكيان (ID 402921084, Age 26)
Rizq Abu Shakian was killed on July 6, 2024, in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Nuseirat, central Gaza. According to the CPJ, Abu Shakian worked as a media worker for the "pro-Hamas Palestine Now Agency." CPJ cited comments from his wife and a colleague who claimed he was simply “dedicated to his work,” presenting him as an innocent journalist killed in his home. However, Hamas-affiliated Telegram channels later revealed a different reality. A video and memorial posts identify Abu Shakian as a fighter in Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades and commemorate him as a “mujahid.” As in other cases, the portrayal of Abu Shakian as an innocent journalist relied heavily on testimony from family members and local colleagues—sources that often prove unreliable once militant groups themselves publish their martyrdom records and internal acknowledgments.
Mustafa Bahr مصطفى خضر عبد بحر (ID 802817890, Age 32)
Mustafa Bahr was killed on March 31, 2024, in an apparent Israeli airstrike near the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City. According to the CPJ, Bahr was a reporter and co-founder of the Palestine Breaking News website. However, social media posts from the day of his death and in early 2026 identified him as a combatant, a “mujahid commander.” Various mourning posters and social media tributes confirmed that he had served as a special operations commander in Liwa al-Tawhid, part of the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades. A video depicts him in uniform participating in military exercises. Despite the extensive documentation identifying his combatant role, CPJ has continued to include Bahr on its list of journalists killed in Gaza. Mustafa's brother Abdul Rahman Bahr, another so-called journalist, was likewise a combatant killed in action and profiled next.
Abdul Rahman Bahr عبد الرحمن خضر عبد بحر (ID 407866896, Age 22)
Abdul Rahman Bahr, the brother of Mustafa Bahr profiled previously, was killed on October 6, 2024, in an apparent drone strike in Gaza City. Bahr also worked for the Palestine Breaking News website. However, social media posts published the same day praised Bahr as a “mujahid” who was “advancing, not retreating,” and mourning posters identified him as a “mujahid martyr.” On February 15, 2025, the Facebook page of the Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia issued a memorial poster referencing “Al-Aqsa Flood” and depicting Bahr as an armed "mujahid" fighter. While CPJ and others claim that Mustafa and Abdul Bahr were innocent brothers in the media business, it was really a cover for the primary family business: the military. They were both killed in action.
Amr Abu Odeh عمرو ناهض عبد الرحمن أبو عوده (ID 404320996, Age 25)
Amr Abu Odeh was killed on October 13, 2024, in an apparent drone strike in the Al-Shati area of Gaza City. According to the CPJ, Odeh worked as a freelance photojournalist for Andalou Agency and Reuters. However, memorial posts following his death describe him as a “mujahid,” “one of the heroes of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades,” and a member of the Hanoun Battalion. Several images also show him armed and wearing military fatigues, indicating that the individual presented by the CPJ as an innocent media worker was killed in action as a Hamas terrorist.
Bilal Rajab بلال محمد رباح رجب (ID 403012818, Age 27)
Bilal Rajab was killed on November 1, 2024, in an apparent airstrike in the Al-Firas market area of Gaza City. According to the CPJ, Rajab worked as a camera operator for the PIJ–affiliated Al-Quds Al-Youm TV. However, a military mourning poster from a militant related Telegram channel and shared by his brother confirmed that Rajab was a member of Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of PIJ, serving in the Shuja'iyya Battalion of the Gaza Brigade. Rajab is depicted in a military uniform indicating that yet another individual presented as an innocent media worker was in fact a combatant killed in action.
Ahmed Abu Sharia أحمد يوسف شحادة أبو شريعه (ID 803771385, Age 31)
Abu Sharia was killed on November 19, 2024, in an apparent IDF tank strike on his home. According to his father, Abu Sharia was killed together with a cousin in the same attack. According to the CPJ, Abu Sharia worked as a freelance photographer for outlets such as Iran’s Tasnim News Agency. The CPJ interviewed his father who said Ahmed worked "to convey the truth about what was happening in Gaza"—but not the truth about his status as a senior combatant. Three days after his death the Mujahideen Brigades acknowledged Abu Sharia on their Telegram channel as a field commander in the organization. Ahmed's 16-year-old cousin Omar Ahmed Attia Abu Sharia (ID 426301396) was killed alongside him and was similarly identified as a member of the Mujahideen Brigades. So according to the group's own admissions, the IDF did not target and kill a journalist and an innocent child but two combatants from a terrorist organization.
Jamal Al-Faqaawi جمال عارف سالم الفقعاوي (ID 402220396, Age 27)
Jamal Al-Faqaawi was killed on October 25, 2023, in an apparent IDF airstrike on his family home in Khan Younis. According to the CPJ, Al-Faqaawi worked as a freelancer for the PIJ–affiliated Mithaq Media Foundation. However, social media posts mourning his death described Al-Faqaawi as a “martyr fighter” and depicted him in military uniform. Images circulated on Telegram channels dedicated to PIJ / Saraya al-Quds military content also featured him alongside the inverted triangle symbol, a marker commonly used to denote attacks on Israeli forces. These records indicate that the individual presented as an innocent media worker was a PIJ terrorist.
Maisara Ahmed Salah ميسرة أحمد صلاح صلاح (ID 407934363, Age 22)
Maisara Ahmed Salah was killed on November 30, 2024, in an apparent drone strike near the Awni al-Harthani School in Beit Lahia. According to the CPJ, Salah worked as a video editor and freelancer for Quds News Network. However, multiple martyr posters and social media posts indicate that Salah was also a Hamas operative. He is identified as a member of the Khulafa (Caliphs) Battalion in Jabalia, and reports indicate he joined an Al-Qassam Brigades “Saqr” unit that infiltrated Israel on October 7. Several images show Salah armed and wearing military fatigues, and one notice describes him as a “mujahid martyr” of the Khulafa Battalion. A eulogy posted by his brother on Instagram referred to him as “the heroic Qassami mujahid.”
This article is in large part based on the research and analysis by The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, @GabrielEpsteinX @MiddleEastBuka @GnasherJew, and other sources.
