Skip to Content Subscribe Our Offers My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Kitchen & Dining Tech Style & Beauty Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Amazon Prime Day Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription HomeNP CommentJesse Kline: Even Hamas is now admitting dead 'journalists' were in fact terroristsYet many advocacy groups are leaving their names on lists of journalists purportedly killed by IsraelLast updated Jun 24, 2026 You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Photo by Doaa Albaz/Middle East Images via AFPWhen 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.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorAfter Ahmed Wishah died in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, video and images were published that appear to show him walking down a street firing an automatic rifle into the air and holding a sniper rifle while wearing a Hamas headband, suggesting he was a legitimate target.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againNevertheless, Al-Jazeera called his death 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.”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 it the world, ranking 156 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index — it was to call 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.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, 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.”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.And CPJ is actually one of the more responsible organizations maintaining a running tally of journalist deaths. Databases run by the International Federation of Journalists and a grassroots pro-Palestinian group called Stop Murdering Journalists have not only refused to remove known combatants, they include numerous people who never met CPJ’s already low standards, such as Hussam al-Adlouni, a known operative in the Khan Younis Brigade.Stop Murdering Journalists claims that 366 media members have been killed by Israel, 107 more than CPJ and 146 more than the count maintained by Reporters Without Borders. Some of these discrepancies can surely be chalked up to the difficulty of counting deaths in a war zone like Gaza, but it’s also clear that many of these groups are more interested in furthering their anti-Israel narrative than giving an honest account of what’s happening on the ground (a supreme irony for groups that purport to advocate for journalism).There have no doubt been many legitimate journalists who have lost their lives in this war — a tragic, yet unavoidable, reality in an urban combat zone like Gaza. But the idea that Israeli forces have deliberately targeted them was always a ridiculous assertion with no evidence to back it up.Part of the problem lies with Israel’s prohibition on foreign journalists entering the Strip. It’s a policy that has some merit, but forces international news outlets to rely on local freelancers, many of whom have close ties with Hamas or other terrorist organizations.The bigger issue is that these groups, and their supporters around the world, have been waging an information jihad alongside their actual holy war against the Jewish state. Hamas leaders have long admitted that civilian casualties serve their interests, and have done an impeccable job of documenting the horrors of war in order to turn international opinion against Israel and frame the victim of one of modern history’s worst terrorist attacks as the bad guys.The result is a propaganda machine staffed by true believers, rather than objective reporters, that’s virtually indistinguishable from Hamas’s military apparatus. Of course, press flak jackets should never be deliberately targeted in war, but nor should they be used as a shield to protect terrorists from receiving the justice they so rightly deserve.National Post jkline@postmedia.comTwitter.com/accessd Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.