Israel Says 170 Gaza War Dead Were Militants Posing as Journalists

Israel’s military has released an investigation claiming that 170 people killed during the war in Gaza who had presented themselves as journalists were actually members of militant groups. The findings were presented as a rebuttal to allegations that Israeli forces deliberately targeted journalists in violation of international law.

Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the investigation identified more than 100 members of Hamas and dozens of operatives from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other militant organizations among those killed.

The military published photographs and other information about the individuals, citing social media posts, documents and material it said had been recovered in Gaza. In some cases, however, the evidence was based on intelligence that Israeli officials said could not be publicly disclosed.

The findings have prompted a dispute with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which has documented the deaths of 190 Palestinian journalists and media workers during the war. CPJ says Israeli forces have been responsible for the vast majority of journalist and media-worker deaths worldwide since 2023.

About 78 names appear in both sets of records, although the two sides disagree over whether those individuals were journalists or militants. Most of the names identified by Israel do not appear among the media workers documented by CPJ, while many of the journalists recorded by CPJ have not been challenged by Israel.

Neither side’s claims have been independently verified by The New York Times.

CPJ Chief Executive Jodie Ginsberg said the organization would examine the Israeli military’s evidence independently, applying the same verification standards it uses for other sources.

“We will need to go through the evidence they have produced in detail,” she said.

CPJ has already revised its records. Last month, the organization removed 19 men after its own investigations determined that they were combatants. Almost all of them were also among those identified by Israel. Since the war began, CPJ says it has removed 27 people after determining that they were militants.

The dispute comes amid longstanding accusations from journalist organizations, the United Nations and news organizations that Israel has deliberately targeted journalists in Gaza. Israel has largely restricted access by foreign reporters and outside investigators, making independent verification of events inside the enclave difficult.

The Israeli military has argued that some individuals working for media organizations affiliated with militant groups were themselves involved in military operations. Some people identified in its investigation were described as military operatives working in combat-related information units.

Israeli officials said the findings also raise broader questions about other allegations made against the country during the war. Ben Cohen, a deputy international spokesman who worked on the investigation, said the evidence should prompt greater scrutiny of information reported throughout the conflict.

Determining the identities and roles of those killed remains difficult because of differences in spelling and transliteration, common names and limited access to reliable sources inside Gaza.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 74,000 people have been killed during the war. The ministry’s figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The Israeli military maintains that all 170 people identified in its investigation were active members of militant groups at the time of their deaths and that much of the supporting evidence was publicly available but had previously been overlooked. CPJ, however, says it will assess the evidence independently before making further changes to its records.

Source: The Newyork Times