Gaza Health Ministry Chief’s Family Included Hamas Combatants, Researcher Says
A researcher’s review of martyr notices, social media posts, and Hamas-linked material identifies at least 11 members of Dr. Munir al-Barsh’s extended family as Hamas-linked combatants
Dr. Munir al-Barsh, the Director-General of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, belongs to an extended family in which researcher Salo Aizenberg says he identified multiple Hamas-linked operatives.
In an X thread published by Aizenberg, he identified at least 11 members of the al-Barsh family killed during the war who were described in martyr notices, social media posts, or Hamas-linked material as Hamas fighters, commanders, or “mujahids.”
According to Aizenberg, the group included two minors he identified as combatants, two purported journalists who allegedly worked for Hamas-affiliated media outlets, and one family member he said participated in the October 7, 2023 massacre.
The findings build on an investigation Jewish Onliner reported in January 2025, which revealed al-Barsh’s open support for and apparent ties to Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. The family connections cast new scrutiny on an institution whose casualty figures have become central to international discourse about the war, yet whose methodology remains contested.
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The al-Barsh Family's Alleged Ties to Hamas
Aizenberg’s research identifies al-Barsh family members in several alleged Hamas-linked categories, including commanders, fighters, and media-linked personnel.
Among the al-Barsh family members killed was Assem al-Barsh, who worked for Al-Rai Radio, a Hamas-affiliated media outlet. HonestReporting’s analysis identified 102 (approximately 48.11%) of the 212 Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza as either members or affiliates of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), or other terrorist organizations.
Hashim Adli al-Barsh served as a Hamas Northern Brigade group commander before being killed in an Israeli airstrike in May 2025. Hamas memorialized him in a martyr video. Three of his brothers were also killed as combatants, with social media posts and martyr notices describing them as fighters who died battling Israeli forces in Jabalia.
Two al-Barsh family members presented themselves as journalists while maintaining Hamas combat roles. CPJ lists Yacoup/Yaqob Al-Borsh as a Palestinian journalist and executive director of Namaa Radio. Aizenberg and HonestReporting dispute that classification, citing social media posts, martyr notices, and military-media material they say identify him as a Hamas-linked combatant or media operative. Asim Adli al-Barsh similarly worked as a purported journalist while being referred to as a “mujahid” on social media.
Aizenberg identified two minors in the family as Hamas combatants. Mohammed Adli al-Barsh was killed at age 16 in October 2023, while Mahmoud Adel Ahmed al-Barsh died at age 17. One family member, Samih Adel al-Barsh, participated in the October 7, 2023 attack and was killed that day. Social media posts from family members referenced multiple al-Barsh combatants as fighters targeting Jews specifically, using the Arabic term “al-yahud” rather than references to Zionists or Israelis.
Aizenberg said four of the 11 al-Barsh family members he identified do not appear on the Gaza Health Ministry fatality list he reviewed, which he argues raises questions about whether some militant deaths are omitted from official records. The missing names include Abdul Rahman Adli al-Barsh, Mohammed Ibrahim al-Barsh, Mahmoud Adel Ahmed al-Barsh, and Samih Adel al-Barsh.
Hamas’ Questionable Data Methodology
The Gaza Health Ministry has functioned under Hamas control since the group seized power in 2007. The ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths in its public tallies.
In a Washington Institute analysis, Gabriel Epstein argued that the ministry’s reporting became increasingly unreliable after it began relying on “media reports” when the hospital and morgue system degraded in northern Gaza.
Epstein found that, compared with the ministry’s hospital-and-morgue-based data, the “media reports” methodology showed a sixfold decrease in adult male fatalities and a fourfold increase in child fatalities. Epstein wrote that, absent further clarification from the ministry, the discrepancies “suggest significant omission or manipulation” that could understate adult male deaths and overstate child deaths.
Epstein cautioned that his analysis did not claim to establish the true death toll or civilian-combatant ratio, but argued that internal inconsistencies in the ministry’s data raised serious questions.