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

This is a genuinely contested claim, and the answer depends heavily on which source you trust — there's no neutral consensus figure.

The claim comes primarily from Israeli sources. A study by the Israel-affiliated Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center examined the identities of 266 individuals identified as journalists or media workers killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and November 30, 2025, and found that 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.

Separately, the IDF itself released its own database claiming 170 Palestinians killed during the Gaza war who it claims were at one point members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations, including 17 individuals whom the IDF said participated directly in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks.

However, the leading independent press-freedom monitor disputes this framing. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), widely regarded as the most authoritative independent tracker, maintains a far lower figure of confirmed combatants. After reviewing its database, CPJ said it recently removed eight individuals from its "killed" database after confirming they were Hamas or PIJ members, while another 12 names were removed for unrelated reasons, out of the previously documented names on its Journalist casualties page. CPJ's CEO stated that CPJ has always been clear that it does not include anyone in its data sets if there is evidence that they were engaging in combat or inciting imminent violence, consistent with international humanitarian law, which considers journalists affiliated with non-state actors to be civilians, provided they do not directly participate in hostilities. After these removals, CPJ's confirmed toll stood at 209 journalists or members of the media killed by Israel amid its war in Gaza.

A Times of Israel investigation prompted CPJ's review after finding multiple Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives were previously identified as journalists, examining hundreds of names published in recent months on official Hamas and PIJ military-wing Telegram channels and affiliated accounts. CPJ emphasized that its review standard applies broadly: it removes names from its database if subsequent evidence shows individuals were not journalists or media workers, were not active in those capacities at the time of their deaths, or were engaging in combat — a policy that applies to all countries and conflicts.

Bottom line: There is no consensus "majority." Israeli government and pro-Israel research institutions (Meir Amit Center, IDF, AIPAC, honestreporting.com) assert that roughly 54–60% of those identified as journalists had terrorist-group ties, based largely on captured Hamas/PIJ documents and the groups' own obituaries. But CPJ — the main independent, international press-freedom body — has only confirmed a small number (8 removed, with some additional cases still under review) out of 200+ names, and its criteria require evidence of actual combat participation, not just "affiliation," to exclude someone as a civilian journalist under international humanitarian law. So whether you'd call it "a majority" depends entirely on whose methodology and definition of "linked to" you accept — a politically fraught and still-unresolved question, not a settled fact.