Israel compounds pain of slain Gaza journalists' families with 'militant' claims

For nearly three years of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, Palestinian journalists have worked under the constant threat of Israeli targeting and  bombardment.

Now, even in death, some are being targeted by accusations seeking to recast them as members of armed groups rather than journalists.

On Thursday, the Israeli army claimed that 170 Palestinian media workers and journalists killed in Gaza were, in fact, members of armed factions.

The army claimed that 118 of those named were affiliated with Hamas' military wing and 49 with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, while two allegedly belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees and one to the Mujahideen Brigades. It also claimed that 17 had participated in the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

The army posted names on a website along with documents and visuals as alleged evidence of the individuals' affiliations and roles.

It also appeared to try to drive a wedge between reporters in Gaza international media outlets, highlighting that some of those named had worked with Reuters, CNN, the BBC, Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, and Le Monde.

According to the Israeli army, this demonstrated a discrepancy between how they were presented internationally and what it described as their "reality on the ground".

The claims have been flatly rejected by Palestinian media organisations, which say Israeli military allegations cannot by themselves determine whether a deceased journalist was involved in military activity.

'A journalist until the very end'

Among those named by the Israeli army was Palestinian journalist Adam Abu Harbid, who was killed in Gaza on 25 July 2025.

His family said the attempt to reclassify him after his death amounts to an effort to erase his professional identity and cast doubt on the circumstances of his killing.

"Adam was a journalist; that is how we knew him throughout his life," his relative told The New Arab.

"He carried his work tools and went to places where people needed to know what was happening. He did not carry a weapon, nor did he conceal any military affiliation, as the occupation is now trying to portray," he said.

"The allegations were particularly painful because Adam could no longer respond to them," he added.

"It is difficult for his family to hear, after his death, that he was anything other than who we knew him to be," he said. "If Israel has clear evidence that he was a fighter, why doesn't it publish independent, verifiable proof? We know our son, and we know his work."

"Adam died a journalist, and that is how we know him," he continued. "We want nothing more than for him to be remembered as he was, and for his profession and work to be kept separate from these accusations."

Families of other Palestinian journalists killed during the war have similarly expressed concern that accusations made after their deaths could damage their reputations while leaving them unable to defend themselves.

'We report what we see'

Palestinian journalists in Gaza have worked under extraordinary conditions since the genocidal war began, with hundreds killed according to Palestinian authorities and media organisations.

At the same time, foreign journalists have largely been prevented by Israel from entering the enclave independently.

A Palestinian field journalist, speaking anonymously for security reasons, said local reporters had effectively become "the world's eyes inside Gaza".

"We do not go to a location because we want to be a party to the war," he told TNA. "We go because there is an event the public needs to know about. When a bomb hits a home, our mission is to document what happened and report the names of the victims, not to participate in the fighting."

"Sometimes we work without knowing if we will return home," he said. "A journalist in Gaza carries a camera, a phone and a notebook, attempting to convey what is happening amid fear. Yet after all that, someone might claim you were a combatant simply because you were present at the site of a bombing."

He said the absence of foreign journalists had placed an even greater burden on Palestinian reporters.

"If foreign journalists were here with us, they could see for themselves how we work and how we reach targeted areas, gather information and interview people," he added. "Yet while the world relies on Palestinian journalists, the occupation turns around and claims that these very people are not journalists."

He said reporters understood the risks involved but continued working, because stopping would mean many stories would never reach the outside world.

"We do not ask anyone to believe us simply because we are Palestinian," he explained. "We ask that our work be judged by journalistic standards and that accusations be investigated independently. If a journalist participated in military action, let the evidence be presented. But a journalist killed in Gaza cannot simply be labelled a combatant because the Israeli army says so."

Journalists' syndicate rejects Israeli claims

Tahseen al-Astal, deputy head of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate in Gaza, condemned the Israeli claims as part of what he described as a "systematic campaign" to undermine the professional standing of Palestinian journalists killed during the war.

He told TNA that the journalists and media workers killed in Gaza had been engaged in documented journalistic work, working for local, Arab and international organisations or as independent reporters.

"These baseless allegations are part of a systematic campaign aimed at targeting the truth, tarnishing the image of Palestinian journalists and undermining their professional and national standing," al-Astal said.

He added that the syndicate was the Palestinian professional body responsible for representing journalists and documenting violations against them.

The Gaza Government Media Office said the number of Palestinian journalists killed since the beginning of the war had reached 263 following the death of media worker Mohammed Abdul Aziz al-Najjar in recent days.

It accused Israel of systematically targeting Palestinian journalists and called on international and Arab press organisations to condemn what it described as crimes against media workers.

For Palestinian journalists, the Israeli list has added another layer to the dangers of reporting from Gaza: not only the possibility of being killed while working, but the prospect that their professional identity could be challenged after death.

The journalists' work has provided much of the imagery, testimony and reporting reaching audiences around the world during the war, amid restrictions on the entry of foreign media.

Their families and colleagues now say that allegations made after their deaths should not be accepted as established fact without independent verification.

For those still reporting from Gaza, the concern is not only what may happen while they are alive, but also how they could be portrayed once they are gone.