This Oct. 6, 2026, Op-Ed by CAMERA’s Shay Khatiri was published by National Review.
The Israel Defense Forces this month released evidence tying 170 individuals often described as “journalists” to the armed wing of Palestinian terrorist groups. The evidence is difficult to dispute, including photographic evidence, military ID numbers, and unit names for the terrorist-journalists, who were all killed by Israel.
Now, the media have a moral duty to undo the damage they have inflicted on the Jewish state.
In January 2024, the Washington Post reported that an Israeli strike had killed Mustafa Thuraya and Hamza al-Dahdouh, identifying both as journalists. Thuraya was a contributor for Agence France-Presse (AFP), and al-Dahdouh worked for Al Jazeera, where his father used to be a bureau chief. The Post’s report on al-Dahdouh’s death is designed to pull at the heartstrings: “As veteran Palestinian reporter Wael al-Dahdouh lost his wife, several children, and his closest colleague to Israeli airstrikes and shelling, each blow was watched by an audience of millions — in Gaza today, there is little privacy to mourn the dead.” Then–Secretary of State Antony Blinken seemed to back the Post’s narrative, telling Al Jazeera, “I am deeply, deeply sorry for the almost unimaginable loss suffered by your colleague, Wael Dahdouh. I am a parent myself, I can’t begin to imagine the horror that he has experienced, not once, but now twice.”
But perhaps journalism does not pay enough to make a living anymore, because both Thuraya and Dahdouh had side hustles as military operatives for designated terrorist organizations.
Or take Ahmed Abu Mutair, who contributed to the German ZDF through the German company’s contact with Palestinian Media Production, as well as Hamas’s Production Headquarters. ZDF suspended its contract with the Palestinian media company last year after it became clear that the latter employed militants.
The examples are plenty — 170, to be precise. And the media’s failure to report on these terrorist-journalists has inflicted a twofold damage to Israel’s reputation.
Read the rest of CAMERA’s Op-Ed at National Review.