Following international outrage over killing of ‘journalists,’ IDF re-releases proof of their Hamas membership

International media carried the story of the death of two reporters from Gaza on Monday, with many news organizations decrying Israel’s supposed targeting of journalists. 

Hossam Shabat, one of the two journalists, was a correspondent for Al-Jazeera Mubasher, Al-Jazeera's subsidiary channel, and one of the most well-known reporters in Gaza. He had more than 500,000 followers on Instagram and over 150,000 on 𝕏. 

The Qatari news channel announced his death in a statement from Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency. 

“Hossam Shabat, a journalist collaborating with Al Jazeera Mubasher, was martyred in an Israeli strike targeting his car in the northern Gaza Strip,” the announcement stated, implying that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted Shabat for being a journalist. 

Even Western news organizations, like Fox News, reported on Shabat’s death, while condemning the killing of journalists. 

An example is Fox News’ Trey Yingst, who posted two messages about Hossam Shabat to 𝕏. 

“Palestinian journalist Mohammed Mansour was killed today in Gaza,” Yingst wrote on Monday afternoon. “Journalists must be protected amid war.” 

Yingst later posted another message, which implied that Israel has been either careless or deliberately targeting journalists. 

“Palestinian journalists Mohammed Mansour and Hossam Shabat were killed by Israel today in Gaza,” the post stated. “124 journalist were killed around the world in 2024, around two-thirds of them were Palestinian.”

Palestinian journalists Mohammed Mansour and Hossam Shabat were killed by Israel today in Gaza.

124 journalist were killed around the world in 2024, around two-thirds of them were Palestinian. pic.twitter.com/XHnULzbjAY

— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) March 24, 2025

However, what Yingst, and almost every major news media outside of Israel did not report, is that the IDF exposed Hossam Shabat as a Hamas military member in October 2024. 

In October, Avichay Adraee, the IDF Arabic Spokesman, announced that documents seized by the IDF in the Gaza Strip showed that Shabat was an operative in Hamas' Beit Hanoun Battalion, being trained as a sniper for the battalion. 

Over 6 months ago, Hossam Basel Abdul Karim Shabat’s role within the Hamas terrorist organization was exposed by us here on @X. He carried out all of his actions under the cover of an @AlJazeera journalist. Yesterday, he was eliminated by the IDF.

Don’t let the press vest… https://t.co/5Y2x40DdnI pic.twitter.com/gVn5NVsOVa

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 25, 2025

According to reports from Gaza, Shabat was killed in an attack on Salah al-Din Road, in the Jabaliya-Tal al-Za'tar area, in the northern Gaza Strip. He was reportedly killed as part of the IDF operation against Hamas vehicles in Gaza. 

Alongside Hossam Shabat, media outlets reported the death of another Palestinian journalist, Mohammed Mansour. Almost none of the mainstream media news outlets mentioned that Mansour worked for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Falstin Al-Yom channel. 

Shabat was one of six journalists working for Al Jazeera who were found to be active members of either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Shabat was also involved in sharing several false news reports accusing Israel of war crimes, including one story accusing IDF soldiers of raping a Palestinian woman. That story was later retracted by Al Jazeera.

Throughout the war, many of the Palestinian journalists working in the Gaza Strip have been exposed as having direct ties to terror organizations. The Hamas-run Government Media Office, like the Gaza Health Ministry, does not identify when those killed are terror operatives. 

The Qatari-government-sponsored Al Jazeera news organization was banned from reporting from Israel in May 2024, due to the network’s involvement with Palestinian terror groups. 

At the beginning of this year, the Palestinian Authority also suspended Al Jazeera's broadcast license, accusing the Qatari organization of producing reports designed to “provoke strife and interfere in Palestinian internal affairs.”