In the last week, however, two blogs ( Israellycool and Elder of Ziyon ) revealed that the Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades had released a video showing that Murtaja was a member of the terrorist group. In addition, the Al Qassam Brigade released this image of Murtaja:

UNESCO Director-General Statement regarding Abdullah Murtaja

On 14 November, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, issued an update about the statement she issued on 29 August, 2014, regarding Abdullah Murtaja, in the context of UNESCO’s mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom.

The original statement issued on 29 August was in line with UNESCO’s policy of condemning all killings of journalists. During this week, information has been brought to the attention of UNESCO that Mr Murtaja was a member of an organized armed group — an active combatant, and, therefore, not a civilian journalist. This has come to light in a video was posted recently on the Internet with Abdullah Murtaja speaking as a member of an organized armed group.

UNESCO therefore withdraws the statement of 29 August.