HonestReporting Says CPJ Deleted 6 Gaza Names as Hamas Confirms Dead Commander Was No Journalist
Updated
Updated · Washington Free Beacon · May 23
HonestReporting Says CPJ Deleted 6 Gaza Names as Hamas Confirms Dead Commander Was No Journalist
2 articles · Updated · Washington Free Beacon · May 23
Six names were removed from CPJ’s Gaza journalist-casualty list between March 29 and May 7 after HonestReporting said the entries were terror combatants, not reporters.
Hamas added a fresh example Friday, praising Maysara Ahmed Salah—killed in an Israeli strike in December 2024—as an Al-Qassam Brigades commander after multiple outlets had described him as a journalist.
CPJ later placed the six deletions on a corrections page but, according to the report, did not disclose their militant affiliations and said it removes names when later evidence shows someone was not a journalist or active media worker.
The findings intensify scrutiny of CPJ data cited in a May 11 New York Times column that relied on the group’s reporting about alleged abuse of detained Palestinian journalists.
The dispute widens a long-running fight over Gaza casualty counts, with critics saying CPJ’s list has repeatedly included members of Hamas- or Islamic Jihad-linked media outlets.
Is the battle over journalist casualty lists the new front in the Gaza information war?
With watchdog credibility in question, how can news outlets accurately report on war zone casualties?
When terror groups run media outlets, who decides who is a journalist and who is a combatant?