Key Takeaways:
- Newly available information shows that multiple senior operatives from Islamic Jihad held dual roles, presenting themselves as civilians while working in journalism and within hospital settings.
- These cases highlight a broader pattern in which terrorist organizations deliberately embed members in protected civilian sectors.
- Despite this emerging evidence, the media has not updated earlier reporting that framed Israel as intentionally targeting civilians, leaving critical context about Islamic Jihad’s civilian cover strategy underreported.
Posing as civilians has been a fundamental tactic of warfare for terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. The IDF has repeatedly documented and exposed Hamas terrorists posing as doctors, humanitarian workers, and ordinary civilians.
But it is not only Hamas members and terrorists whose double lives have helped to skew casualty figures. Islamic Jihad has recently released new posters detailing high-ranking commanders who have been killed throughout the war. Upon closer inspection, researchers have identified these figures as leading alternate lives as journalists and doctors, all the while under the payroll of the terrorist organization.
UPDATING THREAD: Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has released a sizable list of high-ranking commanders killed during the war, particularly second-in-commands of many key units. Notable IDs, including journalists, doctors, and others below.🧵 pic.twitter.com/iZUlY9d0NZ
— Gabriel Epstein (@GabrielEpsteinX) February 24, 2026
Terrorists as Doctors
For the past several months, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has made headlines insisting it did not know aid workers were embedded in terrorist organizations, and accusing the IDF of making such claims without providing evidence.
At the same time, the IDF had released photos of Fadi Al-Wadiya, who was employed by MSF as a physical therapist while also being employed by Islamic Jihad.
This is your employee, @MSF. A physical therapist by day and terrorist by night.
Fadi Al-Wadiya, who was eliminated by the @IDF 2 days ago, worked both as a physical therapist for Doctors Without Borders and as a prominent terrorist in the PIJ terrorist organization.
Fadi… pic.twitter.com/N1FiO6QgLz
— COGAT (@cogatonline) June 27, 2024
MSF can no longer deny the terrorist connection of Al-Wadiya, whom Islamic Jihad publicly claimed as a terrorist. The media that once condemned the targeting of a “civilian” is now nowhere to be seen.
Fadi Jihad Mohammed al-Wadiyya (ID# 802854323, age 33) , a physiotherapist working for Doctors Without Borders, was ID’d by the IDF as a PIJ member shortly after he was killed in a June 2024 airstrike. Today, PIJ confirmed that al-Wadiyya was the deputy head of their military… pic.twitter.com/cAeBGVtgeG
— Gabriel Epstein (@GabrielEpsteinX) February 24, 2026
Similarly, Waseem Yahya Abdulqader al-Ustaz was a physiotherapist for the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the former deputy commander of Islamic Jihad’s Northern Brigade until he was targeted in an airstrike in November 2023.
Israel has been warning that civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals, is also being used for terrorism and has become a clear and central component of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s strategy.
At the European Hospital in southern Gaza, Mohammed Sinwar was targeted while hiding in a tunnel beneath the facility. But the exploitation of the hospital was not limited to tunnels below it. Among the senior Islamic Jihad terrorists targeted during the war was Alaa Hassan Abdullah Asbihi, deputy commander of Islamic Jihad’s Military Manufacturing Unit and a nurse at the European Hospital.
The dual use of medical institutions underscores the systematic embedding of terrorist infrastructure within civilian spaces. This tactic endangered real patients and medical staff alike and further complicated Israel’s efforts to neutralize active threats.
Terrorists as Journalists
Terrorists have similarly put on press vests, working a double life to avoid detection by the IDF. HonestReporting has previously exposed many journalists with clear connections to Hamas. It is for their direct and active ties to terrorism that these so-called journalists have been targeted by the IDF.
Related Reading: Who Are the Killed Gazan Journalists Affiliated With Palestinian Terror Groups?
Mahdi Hassan Mohammed al-Mamlouk, who was listed on the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) list of journalists killed during the war, was the deputy head of Islamic Jihad’s Central Communications Unit and a broadcast engineer for Islamic Jihad-owned satellite news channel al-Quds al-Youm TV.
Mahdi Hassan Mohammed al-Mamlouk (ID#: 801389321, 38) was the deputy head of PIJ’s central communications unit as well as a broadcast engineer for PIJ’s satellite channel, al-Quds al-Youm TV. He was killed in a Nov 2024 airstrike, and is listed by the CPJ and IFJ (though not the… pic.twitter.com/qiQgF9u0ZK
— Gabriel Epstein (@GabrielEpsteinX) February 24, 2026
Although not listed on the same CPJ list as al-Mamlouk, the Deputy Head of Islamic Jihad’s Central Intelligence Unit, Arafat Abdullah Mahmoud Abu Zayed, was also known as a political analyst and writer for the SHMS agency. He also worked for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated media channel Palestine Today.
Arafat Abdallah Abu Zayed; writer, political analyst and Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander. https://t.co/Enexw6wj1m pic.twitter.com/8iYN7cQIZP
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) February 24, 2026
This new information reinforces what Israel has argued all along – terrorist operatives working in dual civilian roles account for a significant and deliberate component of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s operational strategy.
Whether working in a hospital, humanitarian organization, or media outlet, the line between terrorist and civilian is intentionally blurred. The media has largely refrained from updating stories that framed Israel as intentionally targeting civilians, despite newly available public information that provides further confirmation of the contrary.
If the media is to restore its credibility, it must be willing to revisit initial narratives, incorporate emerging evidence, and correct the record so as not to risk becoming yet another cover for terrorists posing as civilians.
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