Press Freedom Group Removes Eight Gaza ‘Journalists’ From Its ‘Killed’ List After Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad Identify Them as Terrorists

A press freedom group, the Committee to Protect Journalists says it is conducting a review of its database of journalists killed during Israel’s war against Hamas, after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad published obituaries that listed some individuals originally identified as journalists as terrorists. In a statement, the committee said it removed eight names from its “Killed” database “because they were later established to have been Hamas or PIJ combatants.” The group said that its count of journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023 stands at 209. The CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Jodie Ginsberg, said, “CPJ has always been clear that we do not include anyone in our data sets if there is evidence that they were engaging in combat or inciting imminent violence.”“CPJ condemns in no uncertain terms the misrepresentation of combatants as journalists or media workers — or the misuse of ‘Press’ insignia. Such actions endanger every single individual journalist legitimately trying to report,” she added. Ms. Ginsberg said that the CPJ is conducting a “full review” of the names in its lists to “confirm that no one who was actively engaged in combat is listed in our data.” She said she expects the review to be completed sometime in July.Since Israel’s war against Hamas began in 2023, the Jewish state has faced harsh criticism over reports that Israeli forces killed journalists in Gaza. In February, the CPJ reported that 129 members of the press were killed in 2025, and stated that “Israel was responsible for two-thirds of all press killings in both 2025 and 2024.”Israeli officials have frequently pushed back on claims that their operations killed journalists, insisting that they were actually terrorists. Earlier this year, Israel faced criticism after an individual identified as an Al Jazeera journalist, Ahmed Wishah, was killed in Gaza. Last week, the IDF said that Wishah was a sniper for Hamas “who also operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist.” The IDF shared images of Wishah holding what appeared to be automatic weapons and a Hamas ID card. Al Jazeera called the allegation “baseless” and an attempt to “deceive” the public. Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X, “It’s official: Even The Committee to Protect Journalists @pressfreedom admits it. Gaza ‘Journalists’ = Hamas & Palestinian Islamic Jihad Terrorists.”The CPJ has faced criticism over its decision to review its list. A left-wing journalist, Heidi Moore, accused the committee of participating in the “persecution of Palestinian journalists.”“Every Western journalist should stand against this disgraceful fascist move,” Ms. Moore wrote on X. “You are disgracing the profession with this kind of bigotry.”A Palestine correspondent for the Nation, Mohammed El-Kurd, wrote on X that the CPJ is “chang[ing] its definition of who qualifies as a journalist.”“The move was catalyzed to appease the right-wing Zionist rag The Free Beacon, which has repeatedly accused Palestinian and Lebanese journalists of being undercover militants or used their political opinions or affiliations as justification for their killing by the IOF,” he claimed. “This is a racist scandal of massive proportions for everyone involved.”The decision to review the list of journalists killed apparently led to the ouster of one of the committee’s board members, Nika Soon-Shiong, the daughter of the owner of The Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong. Ms. Soon-Shiong, who works for the left-wing Drop Site News, shared a lengthy email opposing the decision, saying that the Committee to Protect Journalists “cannot credibly position itself as an objective judge of who is a legitimate journalist” while at the same time it says, “Hamas wants to kill all Jews.” Ms. Soon-Shiong wrote on X that she was “informed” she is no longer a part of the board.

Press Freedom Group Removes Eight Gaza ‘Journalists’ From Its ‘Killed’ List After Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad Identify Them as Terrorists

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