CPJ Removes Gaza Journalist From List After Hamas Identifies Him as Commander
After Hamas identified Yaacoub Al-Barsh as a commander, the Committee to Protect Journalists reportedly removed him from its “journalists killed” list
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The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Gaza casualty database is facing renewed scrutiny after open-source researcher Salo Aizenberg said CPJ removed Yaacoub Al-Barsh from its “journalists killed” list following Hamas’s alleged identification of him as a military commander.
The Al-Barsh case fits a broader pattern raised by researchers, Arabic “martyr” notices, terror-group Telegram statements, and recent reporting, which have identified some Gaza media workers listed as journalists as alleged members of terror groups.
CPJ’s Standard Allows Removals
CPJ says cases can be removed if new evidence shows the person was not a journalist under its definition or if the death was not related to journalism. In November 2025, CPJ said it would begin publicly recording removals made for reasons other than security concerns, while noting that individual pages generally show only a person’s most recent status rather than a full revision history.
That standard matters because CPJ has acknowledged how difficult verification is in Gaza. Its 2023 Israel-Gaza report said researchers rely on at least two sources and interview family members, colleagues, supervisors, and friends to verify victims’ work and affiliations. CPJ also said it had removed several names after later research found they were not journalists or were not working when killed.
The Al-Barsh Removal Claim
The case that triggered the latest scrutiny is Yacoup Al-Borsh, also spelled Yaacoub Al-Barsh. CPJ’s individual profile previously described him as a 30-year-old Palestinian journalist and executive director of Namaa Radio.
Aizenberg wrote on X that CPJ “recently removed Yaacoub Al-Barsh” from its journalists-killed list after Hamas admitted he was a commander. Fox News separately reported that Aizenberg found “numerous social media posts and martyr notices” identifying Al-Borsh as a fighter and “mujahid,” including one from an account affiliated with Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Own Lists
Mahdi Al-Mamluk is one of the clearest documented cases cited by critics. CPJ previously described him as a Palestinian external broadcast engineer for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, while The Times of Israel reported that Palestinian Islamic Jihad later confirmed his death and identified him as deputy head of the group’s communications unit.
Furthermore, a Telegram post of Saraya al-Quds military media described “the martyr commander Mahdi Hassan Al-Mamluk” as an assistant in the central communications unit.
Bilal Rajab presents a similar issue. CPJ describes Rajab as a 27-year-old camera operator for Al-Quds Al-Youm TV who was killed in Gaza City on November 1, 2024. He was later identified as a member of Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, serving in the Shuja’iyya Battalion of the Gaza Brigade.
Additional Terror-Group Claims
Several other CPJ-listed media workers have been tied to terror groups through Arabic martyr notices or terror-linked channels.
CPJ previously described Mustafa Bahr as a 33-year-old reporter and co-founder of the Palestine Breaking News website who was killed near Gaza City’s Kuwait roundabout in March 2024. Aizenberg’s X post said mourning posters and social media tributes identified Bahr as a “mujahid commander” and special operations commander in Liwa al-Tawhid, part of the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades.
CPJ lists Ahmed Abu Sharia as a freelance photographer and editor who worked for outlets including Iran’s Tasnim News Agency. Fox News reported that the official Telegram site of the Mujahideen Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, identified Abu Sharia as a member of the group. Aizenberg also wrote on X that the group acknowledged him as a field commander three days after his death.
Rizq Abu Shakian was previously listed by CPJ as a media worker and administrator for the pro-Hamas Palestine Now Agency. Fox News reported that Abu Shakian appeared in Hamas uniform on a Telegram site sharing images of Palestinian martyrs and that Aizenberg’s research identified him as a member of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades.
The Al Jazeera Six
In October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces said it had published intelligence documents, including personnel tables, training-course lists, phone directories, and salary documents, that identified six Al Jazeera journalists as Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.
The individuals were identified as:
Anas Jamal Mahmoud Al-Sharif
Alaa Abdul Aziz Muhammad Salama
Hossam Basel Abdul Karim Shabat
Ashraf Sami Ashour Saraj
Ismail Farid Muhammad Abu Omar
Talal Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Aruki
Israel War Room@IsraelWarRoom#BREAKING IDF discovers documentation in Gaza confirming 6 Al Jazeera “journalists” were actually terrorists with Hamas and Islamic Jihad
2:06 PM · Oct 23, 2024 · 17K Views21 Replies · 144 Reposts · 377 Likes
Additional Cases of Alleged Terror-Linked Journalists
The IDF also alleged that Ismail Al-Ghoul was identified in documents retrieved from Hamas computers in Gaza and said he was a member of Hamas’s Nukhba force involved in recording and publicizing attacks against Israeli troops. Al Jazeera rejected the allegation as baseless. The IDF separately alleged that documents and photographs recovered from a laptop showed that Mohammed Washah held a senior role in Hamas’s anti-tank missile system.
The Transparency Problem
A December 2025 Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center study asserted that 157 of 266 Gaza media workers it examined — roughly 60 percent — were members of or clearly affiliated with terror groups, including 104 linked to Hamas and 45 to Islamic Jihad. The center said its conclusions relied on public records, Palestinian media reports, and Hamas documents seized by the IDF.
Together, the findings raise a central question for CPJ and other media watchdogs: whether Gaza journalist casualty lists can remain credible without clearer disclosure when listed media workers are later linked to terror groups.