The IDF disclosed a 2021 document on Saturday evening that confirms the military involvement of Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera journalist, with Hamas’ elite Nukhba forces.
The document, found on Hamas computers seized in the Gaza Strip, lists thousands of operatives in the organization’s military wing, where al-Ghoul is identified as an engineer in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade.
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Hamas document implicating Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul in terrorist activity
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
"Despite Hamas and Al Jazeera's false attempts to portray al-Ghoul as an honest journalist, he was an active Hamas terrorist," the army said in a statement.
Earlier this week, the IDF and Shin Bet announced that al-Ghoul was killed in an airstrike by a fighter jet. The IDF reported that al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas’ military wing and participated in the October 7 massacre.
The military added that "as part of his role in the military wing, he trained others on how to document combat and actively participated in filming and distributing videos of attacks against IDF forces. This activity is an integral part of the terrorist organization’s military operations."
Following the strike, the Qatari television station Al Jazeera claimed that al-Ghoul was one of its journalists and reported that he was "killed in an Israeli strike" in the Al Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza. According to the report, his cameraman, Rami Rifi, was also killed.
Media outlets in Gaza reported that the two were killed in an attack on a house adjacent to that of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which had already been destroyed during the war. Before the strike, al-Ghoul posted a picture of Haniyeh on his X account, writing, "The camp bids farewell to this great patriot with sadness."
Hamama school in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of Gaza City
Meanwhile, the IDF reported that Air Force fighter jets struck Hamas operatives at a command and control center in northern Gaza, guided by intelligence from Military Intelligence, Shin Bet and the Southern Command. "The area was previously used as the Hamama school in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip," the statement said.
According to the army, the site was a hideout for Hamas terrorists, from which various terror attacks against IDF forces and the State of Israel were planned and executed. Additionally, weapons used by Hamas were manufactured and stored there, and terrorists were trained to use these weapons against Israeli security forces.
"Before the strike, numerous measures were taken to minimize the risk to civilians, including the use of munitions appropriate for the type of attack, precise targeting and additional intelligence information,” an IDF statement read.
“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law, cruelly exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for its terrorist activities and needs.” Reports from Gaza claimed that 15 people were killed in the attack.