Twenty Gaza journalists removed from CPJ's war casualties list after combat roles uncovered

CPJ maintains that affiliation with a militant organization is not sufficient for exclusion if a person was working as a civilian journalist and was not directly participating in hostilities.

Twenty people previously included in the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ's) database of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza war were removed after CPJ determined they had engaged in combat, the organization said on Thursday.

CPJ said the review examined its documentation of journalists and media workers killed between October 2023 and August 2026. The organization launched the process after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad published obituaries identifying as combatants people whom CPJ had previously listed as journalists, an issue that prompted CPJ to begin reviewing its Gaza casualty database in June.

According to CPJ's updated casualty records, 20 people were removed after new research established that they had engaged in combat. Three names were removed after CPJ determined that the individuals were not journalists or media workers, with one person appearing in both categories. CPJ reinstated six people after determining that their deaths were work-related.

Among those reinstated was Assaad Shamlakh. CPJ also reclassified Ahmed Abu Mhadi from "journalist" to "media worker," rather than removing him from the database. Nine other people were similarly moved from the journalist category to that of media worker, while three were reclassified in the opposite direction.

Review 'applies existing standards' to new information

CPJ said the review did not change its methodology or its definition of a journalist or media worker. Instead, it said researchers applied its existing standards to newly obtained information. Researchers examined published work, social media posts, photographs, videos and other material and, when new evidence emerged, sought to speak with at least two additional sources who had known the person killed. CPJ said it succeeded in doing so in 220 of the 229 cases reviewed.

The organization commissioned an external audit following the first phase of the review. The auditor found no evidence that CPJ had removed or retained individuals in violation of its stated criteria, but recommended that CPJ provide greater clarity about how it determines whether a person was engaged in combat. The audit also noted several areas in which CPJ's documentation or methodology required clarification.

CPJ maintains that affiliation with a militant organization is not, by itself, sufficient for exclusion if a person was working as a civilian journalist and was not directly participating in hostilities. Under its longstanding policy, however, people found to have been engaged in combat are excluded from its casualty data.

The review follows months of scrutiny over classifications of Gaza-based journalists and media workers. CPJ's annual report earlier this year said a record 129 journalists and media workers were killed in 2025, with the organization attributing most of those deaths to Israel, figures the IDF disputed.

Questions over militant affiliations have also affected other international press organizations. In August, Reporters Without Borders removed Gaza-based individuals from its media casualty records after information emerged linking them to terrorist organizations. Recent reporting has separately examined the broader question of journalists operating within Gaza's Hamas-controlled media environment.

Media watchdog criticizes CPJ's conclusions

HonestReporting, a media watchdog that has investigated alleged links between Gaza-based media workers and terrorist organizations, sharply criticized CPJ's conclusions in a statement provided directly for this report.

"Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are no longer even bothering to hide how their operatives have posed as journalists. And why would they when the CPJ has been such a willing participant in the charade?

The CPJ removed almost two dozen terrorists HonestReporting had already identified, yet reinstated PIJ operative Assaad Shamlakh, left on terrorists like Hamas' Ahmed Abu Mhadi and nearly 60 employees of terrorist-affiliated media remain on its list.

Gaza’s media ecosystem has been contaminated by proximity to Hamas and its allies. This is something CPJ simply refuses to admit despite being shown, repeatedly, to be complicit in helping the system to perpetuate while placing the blame on Israel.

It’s time the CPJ properly examined the flaws in its own methodology, as no such self-examination or reflection appear in this audit.”

CPJ, for its part, said its determinations were based on whether individuals met its definitions rather than on their views or affiliations. The organization said its review and external audit supported the way those standards had been applied.