NEW YORK CITY — Israel's Permanent Representative to the UN, Danny Danon, presented evidence at a United Nations Security Council meeting on February 28, 2026, arguing that several individuals killed by Israel, previously identified as journalists or UNRWA employees, were operatives of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The meeting took place at the UN headquarters in New York City.

During his address, Danon displayed images to the council of individuals he identified as Ahmed Samir Muhammad Washah, Mohamed Naser Abu Huwaidi, and Mohammad Abu Itiwi. He posed questions to the council members, asking, "Terrorist or journalist?" and "UNRWA employee or Nukhba commander?" Danon stated, "The United Nations continues to condemn Israel based on Hamas propaganda," and added, "The accusations come first, the truth comes later, but no one ever apologizes." He called for a shift in focus, stating, "It is time to stop blaming the country fighting terrorism and start putting pressure where it belongs: on Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran." Danon also criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for a previous instance where Mamdani referred to an individual killed by Israel as a journalist, whom Danon identified as a terrorist.

Separately, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is conducting a review of its database of journalists killed during the Israel-Hamas War. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had published obituaries identifying certain individuals as combatants, who the CPJ had previously listed as journalists. As a result of its review, the CPJ removed eight names from its "Killed" database after they were confirmed as members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The CPJ also removed 12 additional names from its database for other reasons. Each of these 20 removed names had been listed on the CPJ's "Journalist casualties" page. As of June 25, 2026, the CPJ documented 209 individuals as journalists or media workers killed by Israel in Gaza and in Israeli detention centers since October 7, 2023.