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

Your question touches disputed claims about press casualties — I'll gather the latest data and fact-checks to examine the affiliation evidence.

According to detailed name-by-name studies by Israeli-affiliated researchers, the answer is yes - but press-freedom groups dispute the methodology and definition of "linked".

Other summaries of the same study give:
> roughly 60% were members of or affiliated with terrorist organizations — primarily Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad
> The study examined 266 media workers reported killed between Oct. 7, 2023, and Nov. 30, 2025, and found that 157 were members of or affiliated with terror groups. At least 47 belonged to Hamas’s military wing and 45 were linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including 18 confirmed operatives

> the IDF published what it calls the Press Files: the names, photographs and roles of 170 of those people killed during the war who were presented to the world as journalists and media workers, and who were also operatives in terrorist organisations. 118 belonged to Hamas’s military wing, 49 to Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Other reports describe the IDF dossier as:

> The Israeli military has published a sweeping database identifying 170 Gazans presented as journalists or media workers who held positions in the military wings of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups
> After conducting extensive research, the IDF has now revealed that 170 Gazans killed during the war and presented as journalists and media personnel were actually terrorists working for terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, primarily Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad

CPJ as of June 25, 2026 listed 209 journalists and media workers killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7, 2023, after earlier removing eight names after they were established to be Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives, and 12 others for separate reasons.

In a later audit CPJ removed 19 terrorists and 3 other fake journalists, but reinstated 4 others, leaving 191 supposed Gazan journalists —

According to media watchdog HonestReporting which audited the CPJ list:

> The HonestReporting audit found that 120 of the 209 Gazan media workers, or 57 percent, had terrorist ties
> That leaves a total of 191 supposed Gazan journalists on the CPJ’s rejiggered database—102 of whom still have demonstrable “connections to terrorist groups,” according to an independent review
> 53 percent of those still listed have terrorist ties

Dispute

International press-freedom organizations contest the Israeli definition of "linked" or "affiliated."

CPJ says it does not include anyone if there is evidence they were engaging in combat or inciting imminent violence, and that

> journalists affiliated with non-state actors remain civilians under international humanitarian law as long as they do not directly participate in hostilities

CPJ said its board voted 17-1 to affirm that "organizations affiliated with militant groups" meet the criteria of a legitimate journalistic outlet "provided they are not engaging in combat or inciting violence in a manner likely to have imminent effect".

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and CPJ have described the IDF accusations as a "global propaganda campaign to spread baseless accusations that portray Palestinian journalists as terrorists" and say there is no evidence linking journalists killed to terrorist groups, continuing to hold Israel responsible for 191 deaths since October 7, 2023.

In-person verification by outside researchers has been impossible since Israel barred international correspondents from entering Gaza independently, so all findings rely on open-source Arabic-language social media, Telegram channels, mourning notices, organizational statements and IDF-seized documents, which critics argue conflate employment by Hamas-affiliated media (e.g. Al-Aqsa TV, sanctioned by the US Treasury) or membership in political wings with active military membership.