Much of the reporting from the Gaza Strip relies on information originating in territory controlled by Hamas. International reporters have little direct access. Authorities, media structures and public communications operate under the influence of a terrorist organization that uses images and casualty figures as weapons in the international information war. Nevertheless, Western media and international organizations have repeated many of these claims, giving them the appearance of established fact.
A report by the Geneva-based human rights organization UN Watch now shows how easily Hamas propaganda could make its way into official statistics. According to the report, UNESCO honored at least seven terrorists or members of terrorist groups as supposed journalists killed in Israeli attacks. In several cases, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) later provided the evidence themselves of the roles these men had actually played.
UNESCO claims that it verifies every case in its statistics using multiple sources and takes new evidence into account when it emerges. The cases documented by UN Watch show that this purported verification process very clearly failed or was never applied. Instead, names from the Hamas propaganda apparatus gained international credibility through a UN organization. They then became part of the tally of journalists allegedly killed by Israel.
UN Watch is calling for the false tributes to be withdrawn, all sources to be disclosed and an independent investigation to be conducted. It also wants UNESCO to explain which employees were responsible for the erroneous publications and why the entries have still not been corrected despite the available evidence.
Hamas Exposed Its Own Terrorists
Specific cases, such as that of Mohammad Sami Jarghoun, illustrate the discrepancy between fact and claim. UNESCO listed him as a reporter for Smart Media who was killed on 7 October 2023 while working in the Gaza Strip. Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, however, honored him in an official obituary as a member of its Rafah Brigade. Jarghoun died on the day Hamas terrorists killed around 1,200 people in Israel and abducted more than 250 hostages. The UNESCO statement nevertheless continues to describe him as a journalist.
Meanwhile Mohamed Naser Abu Huwaidi was listed by UNESCO as an employee of the newspaper Al-Istiklal. After his death, Palestinian Islamic Jihad honored him as a commander of its “media warfare unit”. The terrorist organization thus made public what had been missing from the international account.
The case of Mohammed Manhal Abu Armana is particularly striking. UNESCO described him as an employee of the Palestine Now news agency who was hit by a drone while documenting an Israeli attack. Hamas later released a martyrdom video of its “platoon commander” Abu Armana. According to the UN Watch report, the video shows him with submachine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, detonating explosives and operating in concealed tunnels.
UNESCO also honored Mohammed Washah in April 2026 as an Al Jazeera correspondent. Two years earlier, the Israeli military had identified him as a commander of a Hamas anti-tank missile unit. It also published images that it said showed him with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and armed drones. All four men remain listed on UNESCO’s website as supposed journalists who died in the war zone.
CPJ Confirms the Problem
More significant is the fact that the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also removed 20 names from its database. This is particularly notable because CPJ regularly criticizes Israel and is hardly known for taking its side.
CPJ’s review found that eight of those removed had participated in combat on behalf of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including Abu Armana and Abu Huwaidi. Another seven had no professional connection to journalism or the media.
Three Israelis were removed because they were not working as journalists when they were killed in the Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival. Two people previously listed as dead were still alive. The corrected list now identifies all those removed and explains why they were taken off the list.
Following the corrections, CPJ’s list as of 25 June still included 209 journalists and media workers who had been killed in the Gaza Strip or in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023. The credibility of such statistics has suffered significantly. The removed cases show that Hamas terrorists had found their way onto internationally circulated casualty lists.
Their names had already appeared in numerous media reports, political statements and accusations against Israel. Subsequent corrections have not received the same attention or, in some cases, have not been made at all.
The difficult conditions in Gaza help explain how such errors could occur. They do not excuse organizations with global authority for disseminating inadequately verified information. Where a terrorist organization controls the information apparatus, particular caution is required. Correcting errors after they are discovered should be the very least expected.
CPJ announced that it would complete its full review in July. Its website still describes the dataset as under review. UNESCO, meanwhile, has not publicly responded to the allegations by UN Watch. It has also not withdrawn its tributes to the Hamas and PIJ terrorists identified in the report.
