An Israeli airstrike overnight Wednesday targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside a vehicle in the area of Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip that included five operatives “posing as journalists,” the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday afternoon.
The IDF identified the PIJ members killed in the attack as follows:
- Ibrahim Jamal Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali: An operations and combat propaganda operative;
- Faisal Abdallah Muhammad Abu Qaman: Head of security for Islamic Jihad in Nuseirat;
- Mohammed Ayad Khamis al-Lada’a: A combat propagandist;
- Ayman Nihad Abd Alrahman Jadi: A combat propagandist and former PIJ naval operative; and
- Fadi Ihab Muhammad Ramadan Hassouna: A combat propagandist in Nuseirat.
Intelligence from multiple sources confirmed these men were Islamic Jihad operatives masquerading as journalists, the IDF said.
“One source was a list of Islamic Jihad operatives discovered during operations in Gaza, which explicitly identified four of the individuals eliminated as members of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” the statement added.
The IDF stressed that extensive measures were taken to minimize civilian casualties during the strike.
Earlier, the Palestinian news agency Shahab reported that five journalists from Al-Quds Today Television were killed in an attack near Al-Awda Hospital. The outlet is affiliated with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.