Were a majority of the Gazan journalists killed since October 7th, 2023 linked to terrorist organizations?

This is a contested claim with sharply conflicting sources on both sides. Here's what the evidence shows:

The "60% majority" claim comes from a single Israeli source

The claim that a majority of Gazan journalists killed were linked to terrorist organizations originates primarily from a study by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center that asserts a majority of Gaza-based journalists killed since the outbreak of the war were operatives in, or closely affiliated with, terrorist organizations, examining 266 individuals identified as journalists or media workers killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and November 30, 2025. According to the center, at least 157 of them — roughly 60 percent — were members of terror groups or clearly affiliated with them, including 104 linked to Hamas and 45 to Islamic Jihad. The center said its conclusions are based on public records, Palestinian media reports, and Hamas documents seized by the Israel Defense Forces during ground operations in Gaza.

Notably, the study's "affiliated" category is broad — it counts people who were either members of terrorist groups or worked for outlets affiliated with them, meaning simply working for an outlet like Al Jazeera (which Israel alleges coordinates with Hamas) could count someone as "affiliated" even without personal militant activity.

Independent journalism watchdogs give a very different picture

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the leading international press-freedom monitor, has conducted its own review and reached a much smaller number. CPJ said that 19 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire who it had previously identified as journalists or media workers were actually militants or participants in combat, and after review, it says Israeli forces have killed 191 Palestinian journalists and media workers since the start of the war. Since Oct. 7, CPJ has removed a total of 27 people from its list of slain journalists after finding they participated in combat or belonged to a militant group, and removed another nine for other reasons.

That means, by CPJ's own accounting, roughly 27 out of over 200 originally listed names (about 12-13%) were reclassified as militants — far from a majority. CPJ maintains that it considers all Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza to have been killed in connection with their work since they can do their work anywhere and because they are not allowed to leave the territory.

Some specific high-profile cases are genuinely disputed

Israel has provided documentation in several individual cases. For example, regarding Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif, the IDF said he was "the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization" and had "previously disclosed intelligence information and many documents found in the Gaza Strip" confirming he was a member of Hamas. Similarly, Hossam Shabat was revealed to be a Hamas operative, with the IDF presenting direct evidence of his membership in Hamas. However, in earlier cases like that of Yasser Murtaja in 2018, Israel's Defence Minister provided no evidence to back up the claim that he was a Hamas member.

Bottom line

There is no consensus that a majority were linked to terrorist groups. The claim rests on one Israeli intelligence-linked think tank's methodology (which uses a fairly expansive definition of "affiliation," including employment at certain outlets). By contrast, CPJ's own internal review — while acknowledging some individual journalists were indeed dual-hatted militants — found this applied to a small minority (roughly 12-13%) of those on its list, not a majority. The truth likely lies in specific, case-by-case verification rather than a blanket percentage, given how politically charged and contested this issue is on both sides.