Israel Defense Forces troops operating in the Gaza Strip killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists “who posed as journalists,” the military said on Saturday.
The pair, identified by the military as Suleiman Hani Saliman Hajaj and Samir al-Rifai, operated from a command center in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
“The terrorists exploited the hospital to plan and execute terror activities against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” the statement continued.
According to the IDF, Hajaj served as a deputy commander of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad engineering cell.
“Terrorists in Gaza continue to use hospitals for terrorist purposes while cynically exploiting the population and endangering civilians’ lives,” the army said.
🔴ELIMINATED: Two Islamic Jihad terrorists who posed as journalists and operated from a command center in the courtyard of the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 7, 2025
The terrorists exploited the hospital to plan and execute terror activities against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.… pic.twitter.com/DbVxCHtQL0
Meanwhile on Saturday, the IDF was investigating whether it had found the body of slain Hamas “military wing” leader Mohammed Sinwar.
Since Friday, several bodies were uncovered under the European Hospital in Al-Fukhari, near Khan Yunis, an underground area that the Israeli Air Force heavily bombed on May 13.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the defense establishment believes that the remains may belong to Sinwar and other senior Hamas commanders who were present there with him.
The IDF recently confirmed that it had killed Sinwar, the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, who was slain by Israeli ground forces on Oct. 16, 2024. Following his brother’s death, Mohammed Sinwar served as the group’s top “military” leader.
Mohammed Sinwar was “among the most senior and long-serving members of Hamas’s military wing and played a significant role in planning and executing the brutal Oct. 7 massacre,” the IDF stated on June 1, referring to the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Following the July 13 elimination of Mohammed Deif, Mohammad Sinwar’s brother Yahya Sinwar appointed Mohammed Sinwar as Deif’s successor, making him a central decision-maker regarding Hamas’s strategy and policy, and in driving efforts to rebuild its military capabilities, the IDF said.
