Israel Claims Journalists Killed in Gaza Strike Outside Hospital Are Undercover 'Islamic Jihad Terrorists'

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday that the five people killed in a recent airstrike in Gaza were Islamic Jihad terrorists posing as journalists, rejecting prior reports claiming they were in fact press workers.

The IDF added in a social media publication that the people were part of a "terrorist cell" and that it confirmed their true operations from "multiple sources." "One key source was a list of Islamic Jihad operatives discovered by the IDF during operations in Gaza. This list explicitly identified four of the eliminated individuals as members of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization."

Palestinian TV channel Quds Today had claimed the people were parked in a press-marked van outside a hospital while the wife of one of them was about to give birth. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "devastated by the reports" and that "journalist are civilians and must always be protected."

BBC did recall that Quds Today is affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose members took part in the October 7, 2023 attacks where over 1,200 people were killed in Israel and some 250 taken hostage. Quds Today said in a statement that the men "were killed as they carried out their media and humanitarian duty."

The CPJ said at least 133 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the war began, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists. Another study conducted by Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) and published earlier this month tallied at least 165 killings across the globe so far this year.

The deaths took place across 21 different countries around the world but the vast majority —two thirds of all victims— died while covering two major armed conflicts: wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine.

According to the data, nearly three-fourths of all journalist deaths in 2024 took place in so-called "conflict zones," where 120 out of the 165 total victims died while covering wars.