IDF Claims 170 Gaza Media Workers Were Hamas or PIJ Operatives, Releases Names of 10

By Globalvoice

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has claimed that 170 Palestinians who were identified or reported as journalists and media workers killed during the Gaza war were members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) or other armed organisations.

The Israeli military made the allegation on Thursday, October 1, 2026, while launching a new online archive titled “The Press Files,” which it says contains evidence linking individuals identified as journalists to armed groups operating in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF said the information was compiled from material published by Hamas and other organisations, as well as documents and other materials it said Israeli forces recovered during military operations in Gaza.

According to the Israeli military, some of the individuals identified allegedly held military roles ranging from snipers, commanders and trainers to propaganda operatives. The IDF also alleged that some participated in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The military said the archive was created to challenge allegations that Israel deliberately targets journalists and other civilians working in the media.

However, the claims are made by the Israeli military and should be distinguished from independent determinations of journalistic or militant status. The publication of the names is likely to intensify an already contentious debate over how casualties in Gaza are classified and how international organisations verify the identities and affiliations of journalists killed during the conflict.

IDF Releases First 10 Names

The IDF has so far publicly identified 10 individuals whom it says were members of Hamas or PIJ.

They are:

• Amro Nahid Abdel Rahman Abu Odeh

• Abdel Aziz Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Hajjar

• Asem Adli Ahmed Al-Barsh

• Hassan Majdi Ibrahim Abu Warda

• Mohammed Jamal Sobhi Al-Thalathini

• Mohammed Manhal Ahmed Abu Armana

• Tariq Al-Sayed Ismail Abu Sukheil

• Mohammed Sami Abdullah Jarghoun

• Yaqoub Anan Mohammed Al-Barsh

• Mohammed Mahmoud Abdel Aziz Abu Sharia

The military said the 10 cases represent only the beginning of a wider disclosure involving the 170 individuals it claims had militant affiliations.

Among those named, the IDF identified Abu Odeh as a photographer who worked for Reuters while allegedly maintaining an affiliation with Hamas.

The military also alleged that several of the other individuals worked for Palestinian media organisations while simultaneously holding positions within Hamas or PIJ.

Military Roles Allegedly Hidden Behind Media Work

The IDF said its investigation identified individuals who allegedly participated in activities including sniper operations, military command, weapons or combat training and propaganda.

It also alleged that some of those identified crossed into Israel during the October 7 attack.

The claims raise a complicated question for organisations that track journalist casualties: how should individuals who perform media work while allegedly maintaining membership in an armed organisation be classified?

The issue is particularly sensitive in Gaza, where journalists and media workers have operated under wartime conditions and where independent verification of individuals' backgrounds can be extremely difficult.

IDF Claims Conflict With Some International Records

Several individuals named by the IDF had previously appeared in databases maintained by international press freedom and conflict monitoring organisations as journalists or media workers killed during the war.

One case highlighted by the Israeli military is Asem Adli Ahmed Al-Barsh, whom the IDF identified as an operative in Hamas's military wing and said had worked for Palestinian Al-Rai Radio.

The IDF also said Al-Barsh's death was referenced in a 2023 complaint by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to the International Criminal Court concerning alleged killings of journalists in Gaza.

Another case involves Mohammed Mahmoud Abdel Aziz Abu Sharia, whom the IDF identified as a PIJ sniper who allegedly worked for Shams News Agency.

Abu Sharia was included in records maintained by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). CPJ's 2024 records identified Mohammed Abu Sharia of Shams News Agency as a journalist killed on July 1, 2024.

The UNESCO Observatory of Killed Journalists also lists Abu Sharia, recording his death on the same date.

The IDF's claim therefore raises questions about how international organisations assess the professional status and affiliations of people killed while working in Gaza's media sector.

Another Case Involves Palestine Now Journalist

The Israeli military also identified Mohammed Manhal Ahmed Abu Armana, a journalist and photographer associated with Palestine Now, as a Hamas operative.

UNESCO's Observatory lists Abu Armana as a Palestinian local journalist killed on July 13, 2024, while CPJ records similarly identified him as a journalist working for Palestine Now.

His case has also been examined by Airwars, an organisation that tracks civilian casualties in conflict zones.

Airwars initially classified Abu Armana as a civilian based on the information available at the time. However, the organisation later said that in April 2025, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas's armed wing published a tribute describing him as a commander.

Following that development, Airwars changed his classification from civilian to militant.

The Challenge of Verifying Gaza Media Casualties

The competing classifications underscore one of the most difficult issues surrounding casualty reporting from Gaza: determining whether a person killed during the conflict was solely a journalist, a civilian with another affiliation, or a member of an armed organisation who also performed media work.

The IDF argues that its newly launched archive provides evidence that some people presented publicly as journalists were also involved in military activities.

Press freedom organisations, meanwhile, generally rely on their own verification processes when determining whether someone qualifies as a journalist or media worker.

The competing records do not necessarily answer every question about an individual's affiliations, and an individual's employment by a media organisation does not, by itself, establish whether that person was or was not a member of an armed group.

Likewise, an allegation by a military authority requires independent verification before it can be treated as conclusively established.

The IDF says its investigation will continue and that the 10 names released represent only the first stage of a broader effort to document what it describes as the hidden military affiliations of journalists and media workers killed in Gaza.

The disclosure is likely to fuel further scrutiny of journalist casualty figures, militant identification, press freedom and the conduct of the Israel-Gaza war, as international organisations attempt to reconcile competing accounts of who the victims were and what roles they performed during the conflict.

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