Israel says Al Jazeera journalist killed in airstrike in Gaza had taken part in October 7th massacre

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it killed an Al Jazeera reporter in a strike in Gaza City on Wednesday. The IDF said that Ismail al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas’s Nukhba force, which participated in the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 more.

The IDF said al-Ghoul not only took part in the massacres in southern Israel but also instructed others in how to film and distribute videos of their attacks on Israeli troops, according to The Times of Israel.

“This activity is an integral part of the terror organization’s military action,” the IDF said.

“The IDF and the Shin Bet are making every effort to attack and eliminate terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre and will continue to do so,” the statement added.

This is not the first person that Israel said was both a journalist for Al Jazeera and a terror operative for Hamas. It said that in January, both an Al Jazeera staff journalist and a freelancer killed in an airstrike in Gaza were terror operatives.

In February it accused another journalist with Al Jazeera, who was wounded in a strike, of being a deputy company commander with Hamas.

Al Jazeera has denied these allegations from Israel, saying that Israel was systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the Gaza Strip.