We all saw the headlines. This past Monday, five journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in Khan Yunis. Esteemed outlets Reuters, AP, and Al Jazeera all claimed to have lost reporters. The narrative was immediate and predictable: Israel is targeting the free press, another black mark on the Jewish state. But let’s stop pretending. There is no journalism in Gaza. There is only Hamas and its propagandists.
Hamas doesn’t tolerate independent reporting. Everyone knows it. The only question is why Western outlets keep pretending otherwise. The Committee to Protect Journalists – far from a Zionist mouthpiece – has published testimony from Gaza reporters who spoke of intimidation, threats, and beatings.
One veteran, Tawfiq Abu Jarad, got a phone call warning him not to cover an anti-Hamas protest. He obeyed because Hamas had already assaulted him once. Another crew was attacked by Hamas police while filming, and the matter was quietly “resolved” through clan mediation.
Most of Gaza’s “journalists” aren’t journalists at all. Independent investigators – most recently analyst Eitan Fischberger – have exposed the truth about those killed in Monday’s strike. They weren’t neutral reporters. They were part of Hamas’s machine.
Mohammed Salama of Al Jazeera was a terrorist who personally participated in the invasion of Israel on October 7. Mariam Abu Daqqa of the Associated Press taught “journalism” courses for the Hamas “Information Ministry.”
Ahmed Abu Aziz celebrated the October 7 massacre on social media, calling it “the greatest day of our generation” while mourning his fellow Hamas fighters. Terrorists, operatives, regime mouthpieces – call them what you will, but don’t call them journalists.
This is not new. Open-source researchers like @MiddleEastBuka have documented dozens of cases where “journalists” killed in Gaza were praised in obituaries as “mujahideen” (jihadists).
Mohammad Abu Daqqa, labeled a journalist, was celebrated as a “heroic mujahid,” a jihadist warrior, with photos showing him holding a Kalashnikov. Anas Abu Shamala, a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba unit that led the atrocities of October 7, was still counted as a “freelance journalist.”
Then there is Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif. Abroad, he was lionized as a fearless correspondent. In Gaza, he posted a smiling selfie with Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of October 7. The list goes on and on. Hamas dresses up its operatives in press vests. Western media report them as martyrs of free expression.
Validating Hamas's narrative makes it worse
WHAT MAKES matters worse is when Israel itself validates Hamas’s narrative. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF spokesman both described the Khan Yunis strike as a “tragic mistake.” But this was not a mistake. The hospital was being used as a Hamas surveillance base and even, by some accounts, as a place to hold Israeli hostages.
Field officers are reportedly furious at the prime minister for apologizing for what was a legitimate military target. Any casualties are the responsibility of Hamas alone: morally, for embedding its fighters among civilians, and legally, under the Geneva Conventions. By apologizing, Israel’s leadership handed Hamas a propaganda gift it did not deserve.
The scandal doesn’t end in Gaza. It reaches deep into Western newsrooms. Former Associated Press reporter Matti Friedman has blown the whistle, describing how Hamas censorship shaped coverage from the inside.
In one case, Friedman wrote a story that mentioned that Hamas fighters pose as civilians. Under pressure from Hamas, the AP editors deleted that critical detail. Friedman protested the censorship and requested that, at the very least, the story acknowledge that it had been censored. His editors refused his request. There was no disclaimer. Hamas’s demand would be honored by the AP, full stop.
In another, a scoop about Ehud Olmert’s sweeping 2008 peace offer – the kind of story that might have shown Israel’s seriousness about ending the conflict – was buried at Hamas’s insistence. This isn’t journalism; it’s collaboration. Hamas dictates the narrative, Western media repeats it, and the world swallows it whole.
The consequences are enormous. When Hamas operatives wearing press vests are counted as journalists, Israel is accused of waging war on free expression. When every report out of Gaza has been pre-approved by Hamas, the global public isn’t informed; it’s manipulated. And when the rare few who dare to defy Hamas try to tell the truth, they are brutally silenced. Their stories never see the light of day.
The five killed on Monday were mourned as reporters. But the evidence tells a different story: They were Hamas operatives, soldiers in the terror group’s disinformation war. This is the reality. There is no free press in Gaza. There is no independent journalism. There is only Hamas. The truth is dying in Gaza, and Hamas is burying it with a press badge.
The writer is executive director of Israel365action.com and host of the Shoulder to Shoulder podcast.