The IDF titled its rejoinder “How Hamas and Islamic Jihad Use Journalism as a Cover for Terrorism.” The title is a jab at the Times, which had headlined its story “Using War as Cover to Target Journalists.”

The Times claimed that several Palestinians who were killed in precision missile strikes last week during Operation Pillar of Defense were in fact journalists and that the IDF was behaving similarly to the Syrian regime by using wartime to target members of the media.

When challenged by a Buzzfeed reporter, Carr defended his accusations by saying that other organizations had made the same claim.

“The Committee to Protect Journalists, which I treat as a reliable, primary source in these matters, identified them as journalists,” Carr stated. Yet the CPJ’s report cited Al-Aqsa TV, a media arm of Hamas, in claiming the terrorists were journalists, meaning that Carr’s “primary source” was Hamas itself.

Carr also told Buzzfeed that despite having not verified the accuracy of the claims he was standing by his story.

The terror activities of the three Palestinians Carr identifies as journalists—Mohamed Abu Aisha, Hussam Salama, and Mahmoud al-Kumi—are detailed in the IDF’s rebuttal.

Aisha, a member of Islamic Jihad, is shown in a picture wearing an Islamic Jihad uniform. Salama and al-Kumi worked for Al-Aqsa TV, a Hamas propaganda outfit classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. The IDF reported they were also Hamas operatives, paid by Hamas, and identified by Hamas websites as jihadists who are “part of the resistance.”

The IDF also admonished the New York Times for incentivizing the practice by terrorists of masquerading as journalists in order to avoid being targeted.

“[I]f the clear line between terrorists and journalists is blurred and there is no standard for the definition of ‘journalist’ … it is likely that Palestinian terrorists will continue using journalism as a cover for terrorism,” the IDF wrote.

The Times has yet to retract Carr’s story.

The report, sensationally titled “Using War as Cover to Target Journalists,” contains serious factual errors that render the accusation that Israel “targets journalists” false. The Times reports:

Mahmoud al-Kumi and Hussam Salama worked as cameramen for Al-Aqsa TV, which is run by Hamas and whose reporting frequently reflects that affiliation. They were covering events in central Gaza when a missile struck their car, which, according to Al-Aqsa, was clearly marked with the letters “TV.”

Yet al-Kumi and Salama were not journalists—in fact, they had spray-painted “TV” on their car in an attempt to disguise themselves as journalists and thereby prevent the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from firing on them. The disguise didn’t fool anyone except for David Carr and the New York Times. Who in fact were they?

Muhammed Shamalah, commander of Hamas forces in the southern Strip and head of the Hamas militant training programs, was targeted by an Israeli air strike while driving a car clearly labelled [sic] “TV”, indicating it to be a press vehicle, abusing the protection afforded to journalists.

(Free Beacon sources confirmed that Shamalah and Salama are the same person, despite the different spellings of the name.)

Instead of condemning Hamas for attempting to pass off terrorists as journalists, Carr promotes the ploy and condemns the IDF for killing terrorists he thinks were journalists—despite ample evidence of their real profession.

The Times also claims that their cover as “cameramen for Al-Aqsa TV,” a Hamas propaganda outfit, renders them immune from being targeted by the Israeli military. The U.S. State Department classifies Al-Aqsa TV as a terrorist organization, a fact left unmentioned by Carr, further misleading readers.

Carr also claims that a precision Israeli missile strike on one floor of a media building that eliminated four senior Islamic jihad terrorists—after which even Islamic jihad acknowledged the deaths of their operatives—was merely an attack that “might have included legitimate targets.” It is unclear why Carr insists the strike only “might” have eliminated terrorists.

The report is only the latest in a series of recent Times articles that appear to deny or downplay the presence of terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

Reporter David Carr’s recent profile about “the life and death of Andrew Breitbart” included what many observers deemed a puzzling declaration: “For good or ill (and most would say ill), no one did it like Mr. Breitbart.”

It remains unclear whether Carr’s observation was based on any interviews or reporting—and the Times has yet to comment on the controversy.

Several calls and e-mails to Carr were not returned and Times public editor Arthur Brisbane also did not respond to requests seeking comment.

Carr, who subsequently promoted several messages on Twitter that were critical of his reporting, later apologized for the line.

Carr, a longtime beat reporter, is perhaps best known for penning a tell-all book about his addiction to crack cocaine and firearms.