A Gaza journalist who worked for Al Jazeera was holding three hostages in his home with his family before he was killed by Israeli commandos during a rescue operation on Saturday, according to the Israeli military. Abdallah Aljamal was a Palestinian journalist and member of the Hamas terror group, who was exposed only after his death.
Aljamal, who also worked as a spokesman for the Hamas-run labor ministry, was killed when special forces soldiers stormed his home in central Gaza. Israeli military said they rescued hostages Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andri Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41. The IDF confirmed that Aljamal was holding the hostages inside his family home.
Journalist but Terrorist
However, the Israeli military did not provide any information about what happened to his relatives. "This is further proof that the Hamas terrorist organization uses the civilian population as a human shield," the IDF said in a statement.
Rumors spread on social media after Ramy Abdu, the head of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, posted on X that soldiers had entered the Aljamals' home during the raid in Nuseirat on Saturday, killing several family members, including Abdallah and his father, Dr. Ahmed Aljamal.
Aljamal had written a column for Al Jazeera in 2019, but the Qatar-based outlet stated he was never an employee. Before his death, he contributed to the Palestine Chronicle, writing numerous stories about the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza during Israel's offensive.
Many of Aljamal's recent articles focused on the ongoing IDF operation in Nuseirat, where he lived, and where Israeli intelligence discovered he was holding three of the four hostages rescued on Saturday near a refugee camp.
The Palestine Chronicle, a non-profit organization based in Washington State, aims to deliver daily news from Gaza.
The outlet claims that its team is made up of professional journalists and respected writers who do not represent any political party or promote a specific political agenda.
Hidden Agenda
On Sunday, the organization confirmed that Aljamal was a contributor reporting from Gaza but did not mention that he was holding three hostages.
Along with the three men, Israeli forces also rescued Noa Argamani, a 26-year-old Israeli woman who became the terrified symbol of the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
Israel hailed the rescue as a success and estimated that there were "under 100" casualties from the raid.
However, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health claimed that 274 people were killed, including civilians.
Both Israeli and American officials have attributed the casualties to Hamas' tactic of holding hostages and storing munitions in civilian areas.
