While Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) publicly claim their dead, new research shows that many previously considered civilians were in fact members of the terrorist organizations, undermining allegations that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza.
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Smoke rises and a fireball over buildings in Gaza City on October 9, 2023 during an Israeli airstrike. (Photo by Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Epstein found several individuals identified as medical personnel who are also members of terrorist groups. The most serious revelation on the list of martyrs is Fadi al-Wadiyya, a physiotherapist for Doctors Without Borders, who was killed by the Israeli army in June 2024. Doctors Without Borders responded to the deaths, saying they were “outraged” and “strongly condemn the fighting.”[ed] the murder of our colleague.”
When the IDF claimed that al-Wadiyya was a member of the PIJ, MSF said they had “no prior knowledge” of his “alleged involvement in military activities” and had not received “any formal explanation” of “the circumstances of his killing.”
In a Telegram account claiming to be the media reserve for the Al-Quds Brigades, a message mourning al-Wadiyya’s martyrdom on February 24 lists the physiotherapist as an assistant to the military production unit of PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades.
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Hamas terrorists march in Gaza during a parade. (Getty Images)
The spokesperson said that “before the online posts from Israeli authorities in June 2024, MSF had no indications that Fadi Al Wadiya may have been involved in military activities of any kind. In the immediate aftermath of Al-Wadiya’s killing, we asked for an explanation from Israeli authorities but never received an official response. If Israeli authorities were aware of Al-Wadiya’s ties to militant activities, they never shared this information with us until after his death. To this day, Israeli authorities have authorities, the only information they shared that we are aware of is what was shared through public social media posts.”
Epstein shared several other cases of healthcare workers playing prominent roles in terrorist groups.
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Ambulances transport patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, Gaza City. October 12, 2024. (Hamza ZH Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Mohammed Akram Abdullah al-Kafarna was mourned by the Facebook page of the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association as a nursing supervisor at Kamal Adwan Hospital and by the Institute for Palestine Studies as head of the nursing system in Gaza. A Telegram account featuring members of Hamas’s best-equipped Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, al-Kafarna is described as one of Beit Hanoun’s “Qassam martyrs.”
Ayman Suleiman Aliyan Abu Tayr was listed as a martyr in Khan Younis in June 2025. The Institute for Palestine Studies lists him as a nurse and head of the clinical nutrition department at Nasser Hospital. According to a Telegram account linked to PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Tayr was a commander in the Central Operational Unit of the Al-Quds Brigades.
Jaber Abdulhamid Diab Mohammedin was mourned on the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s Facebook page as an intensive care nurse at Al-Rantisi Specialized Children’s Hospital. A Telegram account linked to the Islamic Jihad movement lists Mohammedin as a commander in the military production unit of the PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigade.
Nidal Jaber Abdulfattah al-Najjar is listed as an administrator at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, according to the Institute for Palestine Studies, while a mourner noted on Facebook that he worked at Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital. A Telegram account emblazoned with Hamas’ signature red triangle labels him a martyr commander of Hamas’s Al-Radwan battalion.
IDF forces operate in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokespersons Unit)
Adesnik said he thinks it is “likely that Hamas also applied this strategy in a systematic way, but right now we mainly have the PIJ revelations. Given that Hamas is many times larger, if it were to release this kind of information, the effects could easily trickle down through the humanitarian sector in Gaza.”
Among the cases Aizenberg is following are media workers. He said his list is “based solely on confessions by those groups and other sources in Gaza,” and “does not include the many additional examples identified by Israeli evidence.”
Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas terrorist leader who was killed by the IDF, waves to a crowd in Gaza. (Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Al cites the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Yacoup Al-Borsch As a journalist and executive director of Namaa Radio, Aizenberg has found “numerous social media posts and martyrdom posts identifying him as a fighter and ‘mujahid.’” This includes a Facebook post from an account affiliated with Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia.
Ahmed Abu Sharia was a freelancer who worked for media such as Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, CPJ says. According to the “official” Telegram site of the Mujahideen Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen movement, he was also a member of the Mujahideen Brigades.
Rizq Abu Shakian was a “media worker and administrator of the pro-Hamas Palestine Now Agency,” according to CPJ. Shakian also appears in a Hamas uniform on a Telegram site that shares images of Palestinian martyrs. According to Aizenberg’s research, he was a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades.
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As the shaky ceasefire in Gaza continues, analysts say they continue to value closely examining the war’s victims. Epstein said that “reviewing cases of militants serving in dual civilian roles in key sectors such as the media, health care and education is important to the historical record and underscores the information constraints that the press, government and analysts face in real time during conflicts.” He said that “militant identification over time can provide an idea of how deep was the power of Hamas, PIJ and other militant groups over key sectors in Gaza.”
