When an Al-Jazeera cameraman was killed in Gaza over the weekend, the incident was predictably used to further the narrative that Israel has been systematically targeting journalists and silencing the voice of truth, as the Qatari state broadcaster claimed. Yet as the dust settles in Gaza, the terrorist groups themselves have been quietly admitting that many of the so-called journalists purportedly killed by Israel were actually jihadists.
Al-Jazeera cameraman's death sparks accusations
After Ahmed Wishah died in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, Al-Jazeera called it a heinous crime. A Democracy Now! story claimed that Israel has now killed over 260 journalists in Gaza, and quoted a single source who used the opportunity to falsely accuse the Jewish state of using genocidal tactics.
This narrative is not new. In December 2023, less than two months after Hamas's October 7 massacre, an open letter signed by over 300 Canadian journalists condemned what it called Israel's continued killing of journalists in Gaza, claiming that their press gear is now a target, rather than a shield.
Media bias and press freedom in Palestine
But the point of the letter was not to advocate for press freedoms in the Palestinian territories. Palestine has long been among the most restrictive places to practice journalism, ranking 156 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index. Instead, it called on the Canadian media to be even more biased against Israel.
Like the libel that the Jewish state is committing a genocide in Gaza, which is now treated as gospel by many on the left and in the news media, the narrative that Israel, one of the few countries in the region that actually has a free press, is systematically murdering journalists has served its enemies well.
Terrorist groups release names of dead fighters
Yet in recent weeks, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have been releasing hundreds of names of terrorists who were killed in the war in Gaza and, surprise, many of them were also on lists of dead reporters maintained by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and others.
To its credit, CPJ has removed some of the names from its registry after concluding that they had participated in combat. Names such as Mohammed Nasser Abu Huwaidi, who was said to have worked as a reporter for the Al-Istiklal newspaper and was killed in December 2023, sparking outrage from then-UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay. Yet on March 19, his name was included among members of Islamic Jihad's military media unit.
CPJ revises its count but still includes questionable names
Once claiming that Israel was responsible for the deaths of 276 journalists in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Yemen and Iran, CPJ's estimate now stands at 259. But it still includes people such as Ahmed Abu Eisha, who PIJ says was serving as a commander in its Central Brigade at the time of his death.
A brief look at CPJ's registry of 75 media workers and journalists that it claims were directly targeted and killed by Israeli forces in direct reprisal for their work reveals that a large percentage were working for media outlets affiliated with Hamas, PIJ, the Houthis and the Iranian regime. And some of the names clearly don't belong there: on its website, CPJ alleges that Mohamed Al-Maqri was murdered by Israel, but clicking his name reveals that he was executed by al-Qaida.
