Press Emblem Campaign Is the Latest Press Rights Org to Count Terrorists as Journalists

Key Takeaways:

• The Press Emblem Campaign is the latest press freedom organization to include terror-affiliated journalists on its list of journalists who were killed throughout 2025.
• Of the 60 Gaza-based journalists on its list, 23 were affiliated with Palestinian terror groups, either as combatants, workers for terror-affiliated media organizations, or propagandists.
• When the Press Emblem Campaign and other organizations include terror affiliates on their lists of bona fide journalists, it calls into question their integrity as defenders of journalism and gatekeepers of objective reporting.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, the purportedly high number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has been a consistent focus of mainstream media, social media pundits, and rights organizations.

At HonestReporting, we have been tracking this trend, noting that studies conducted by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on journalists killed in Gaza include a significant number of Palestinians who are affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or other Gaza-based terror groups. This affiliation takes the form of serving in a military capacity on behalf of these terror groups, working for media organizations owned and operated by the terror groups, and spreading propaganda on their behalf.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) claims that Israel is responsible for the deaths of 70% of all journalists killed in 2024.

Let’s take a look at how CPJ stretches the definition of international law to designate terrorists as journalists. ? pic.twitter.com/zvh1yGMxN6

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 13, 2025

Now we can add another press freedom organization to the ranks of those that whitewash terror-affiliated journalists and diminish the integrity of journalism in the Gaza Strip.

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), a Geneva-based organization that “aims at strengthening the legal protection and safety of journalists in zones of conflict and civil unrest or in dangerous missions,” has released its end-of-the-year statistics on journalists killed around the world in 2025.

According to the PEC, almost half the journalists killed in 2025 were killed in the Gaza Strip. However, a closer look at the 60 journalists reportedly killed in Gaza named by the PEC, 23 (roughly 38%) have some form of affiliation with Palestinian terror groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Among these 23 terror-affiliated journalists are nine who are alleged to have been terror operatives active in the Gaza Strip, 13 who worked for terror-affiliated media organizations, and one who served as a terror propagandist.

The 23 terror-affiliated journalists included by the PEC in their annual round-up of journalist deaths are:

• Mohammed Bashir Talmas: He worked as an editor for Hamas-affiliated Safa News Agency.
• Aql Hussein Saleh: He served as a field commander for Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and as a propagandist for the organization.
• Mohammed Mansour: He worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine Today.
• Hossam Shabat: He allegedly served as a Hamas sniper in the Beit Hanoun Battalion.
• Helmi Al-Faqaawi: He worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine TV Today.
• Ahmed Mansour: He worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine Today.
• Hassan Eslaiah: He allegedly served as an operative in Hamas’ Khan-Younis Brigade.
• Hassan Samour: He worked for Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa Radio.
• Mutaz Rajab: He worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine Today.
• Suleiman Hajjaj: He worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine TV and was allegedly an Islamic Jihad terror operative.
• Ismail Baddah: He worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine TV.
• Samir al-Rifai: He worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Shams News Agency.
• Ahmad Abu Aisha: He worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine Today TV.
• Hussam Saleh Al-Adlouni: He allegedly served as a commander in Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade.
• Adam Yahya Abu Harbeed: He worked for Islamic Jiihad-owned Al-Quds Al-Youm TV.
• Anas Al-Sharif: He allegedly served as the head of a Hamas terror cell responsible for rocket fire.
• Mohammed Qreiqa: He worked for Al-Jazeera but had previously worked for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV.
• Islam Abed: She worked for Islamic Jihad-affiliated Al Quds Today TV.
• Mohammad al-Kuwaifi: He allegedly served as a terrorist operative for Hamas.
• Muhamma al-Dayah: He worked as a journalist and social media editor for the Palestinian Information Center, which is close to Hamas.
• Saleh Aljafarawi: A freelancer and social media influencer, he had crossed into Israel on October 7 and published propaganda on behalf of Hamas. He was killed while accompanying a Hamas squad on an operation against an anti-Hamas clan.
• Ahmed Abu Mutair: He allegedly served as a terrorist operative for Hamas.
• Mohammad Al-Munirawi: He allegedly served as an anti-tank missile operative for Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip.

When the PEC, CPJ, or RSF include terror-affiliated journalists on their lists of killed journalists, they not only call into question their own integrity as journalist advocacy organizations, but they also call into question the integrity of journalism in general.

If those who take part in active combat on behalf of terrorist organizations or who serve these organizations in a propaganda capacity are treated as bona fide journalists, how can news consumers trust the news that they provide or trust those who are meant to gatekeep the sacredness and impartiality of the fifth estate?

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