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 journalists and media workers previously listed by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as casualties of the Israel-Gaza war have been removed from the CPJ's casualty database after it was determined they engaged in combat roles, the organization announced on Thursday. The review examined CPJ's records of journalists and media workers killed between October 2023 and August 2026, following Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) publication of obituaries identifying some CPJ-listed individuals as combatants.
Of the 20 individuals removed, three were excluded because CPJ concluded they were not journalists or media workers, with one person appearing in both categories. Six people were reinstated as their deaths were found to be work-related, while nine others were reclassified from journalists to media workers, and three were moved in the opposite direction.
Assaad Shamlakh was among those reinstated, and CPJ reclassified Ahmed Abu Mhadi from journalist to media worker, rather than removing him from the database. The review applied the organization's existing standards to newly obtained information, including published work, social media posts, photographs, and videos, and sought to contact at least two additional sources for 220 out of 229 cases reviewed.
CPJ did not change its methodology or definition of a journalist or media worker, stating that researchers applied its existing standards to the newly obtained information. The organization commissioned an external audit, which found no evidence of bias but recommended greater clarity regarding how it determines combat involvement.
HonestReporting, a media watchdog, criticized CPJ's decisions, stating that the organization had removed individuals already identified by Hamas and PIJ as terrorists while reinstating others involved with militant organizations. The watchdog questioned CPJ's willingness to participate in the "charade" of classifying militants as journalists and called for a proper examination of the flaws in CPJ's methodology.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
