Report Claims Seven Gaza 'Journalists' Cited by UNESCO Were Terror Operatives
UNESCO condemned the killing of seven "journalists" by the IDF in Gaza. But a new report from UN Watch, based on IDF statements and the terror groups' own announcements, says they were actually militants. The report calls on UNESCO to "correct the records."
(Photo: Shuttertock)UN Watch published a report Wednesday challenging data presented by UNESCO, which had claimed that at least seven journalists were killed by IDF fire in Gaza. The findings contend that those killed were in fact Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives who used journalistic credentials as cover.
UNESCO is now being called upon to retract its misclassification of the operatives as journalists and to launch an independent investigation into the matter. Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, stated: "When a UN agency publicly memorializes terror operatives as journalists — and fails to correct the record even after Hamas itself acknowledges they were its members — it undermines the credibility of the United Nations and damages the integrity of real journalists who risk their lives reporting from conflict zones."
The UN Watch report, released in Geneva under the title UNESCO's Misidentification of Terror Operatives as Journalists in Gaza, documents a pattern of repeated instances in which UNESCO publicly identified Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives as members of the press.
In a formal letter addressed Wednesday to UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany, Neuer urged the organization to correct its public records, open an independent investigation, and hold accountable those responsible for what he characterized as "a grave failure in the verification process." He added pointedly: "UNESCO has become a conduit for Hamas propaganda."
