Jerusalem, 11 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — A comprehensive study released Thursday finds that about 60% of individuals identified as journalists killed during the war in Gaza were members of or affiliated with terrorist organizations, primarily Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The findings contradict claims by Hamas and various NGOs that 220–256 journalists were killed over two years of fighting.
The research, conducted by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, examined 266 media workers reported killed between October 7, 2023, and November 30, 2025. Of these, 157 — roughly 60% — were either members of terrorist groups or worked for outlets affiliated with them. At least 47 belonged to Hamas’s military wing and 45 were linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including 18 confirmed operatives.
“The issue of Hamas’s propaganda is a high priority, and it uses a lot of media outlets abroad to talk about it,” Shlomo Mofaz, the center’s director, told The Press Service of Israel. “The narrative of harming journalists is like the number of deaths — when you check the facts and figures, it’s not like that. About 60% is definitely a very high figure.”
Researchers described a widespread “dual identity” phenomenon in which media workers simultaneously served as armed operatives.
The report highlighted systematic coordination between Hamas and the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network.
Several Al Jazeera correspondents, including Anas al-Sharif, were identified as members of Hamas’s East Jabaliya Battalion. Sharif headed a cell responsible for firing guided rockets.
Additional seized documents showed organized collaboration between Al Jazeera and Hamas, including directives on covering specific incidents and a hotline enabling direct contact during emergencies.
Mofaz said the study relied on Arabic-language sources, social media profiles, and captured Hamas documents. A roster from Hamas’ Gaza Brigade confirmed that eight individuals previously listed as unidentified journalists were actually Hamas members.
‘No Special Protection for Journalists’
Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, Director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, who was not involved in the research, provided legal context to TPS-IL.
“I have bad news for you — there is no special protection for journalists,” Hirsch said. “A journalist is supposedly a civilian, non-combatant, not participating in the fighting. Therefore, from the point of view of international law, it is forbidden to intentionally harm someone who is not participating in the fighting, but as soon as a person participates in the fighting in one way or another, even if it is just gathering intelligence, like journalistic reports sometimes, it makes the person a legitimate target for all intents and purposes.”
Hirsch added that terror groups deliberately exploit journalistic status.
The research documented several cases where these dual-role operatives received advance warning of the October 7 attack and accompanied the terrorists to provide live coverage of the assault.
Experts told TPS-IL in 2024 that Palestinian photographers who crossed into Israel on October 7 committed war crimes.
“Of course, media companies are not supposed to employ terrorists, and they need due diligence to ensure that those they employ in combat zones are not terrorists. But unfortunately, there are elements like Al-Jazeera, which is an organization in a country that supports terrorism and Hamas, that not only have no problem including Hamas terrorists as ‘journalists,’” Hirsch added.
The study concluded that this dual-role phenomenon “undermines trust in media personnel and the credibility of their reports” and “changes the status of journalists according to international law and puts them in danger.”
Around 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. The body of Israeli Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili is the last remaining in Gaza.
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