New insights are challenging the long-held narrative surrounding the casualties in Gaza, as recent research unveils that many individuals previously classified as civilians were actually members of terrorist organizations. This revelation casts doubt on allegations that Israeli forces intentionally targeted non-combatants in the region.
Researchers have been scrutinizing the death reports released by the Hamas-run health ministry and have discovered that an increasing number of those listed as ‘martyrs’ were indeed affiliated with groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). These organizations have posthumously identified their members, who often maintained public personas as healthcare or media professionals, thus complicating the civilian casualty narrative.
Gabriel Epstein, a senior policy associate with the Israel Policy Forum, has been meticulously tracking these developments. In his discussions with Fox News Digital, Epstein revealed that he has identified several individuals labeled as martyrs by Hamas and PIJ who also held roles within the health sector, including positions in various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
Epstein’s findings have been particularly startling, highlighting cases such as that of Fadi al-Wadiyya, a physiotherapist associated with Médecins Sans Frontières. Al-Wadiyya was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in June 2024, prompting an outcry from MSF, who expressed outrage and strongly condemned the incident.
In response to the IDF’s assertion that al-Wadiyya was a PIJ member, Médecins Sans Frontières stated they were unaware of any alleged military involvement on his part and underlined that they had not received a formal explanation concerning the circumstances of his death. This incident underscores the complex and often opaque nature of identity and affiliation within conflict zones, highlighting the challenges in distinguishing between civilian and combatant roles.
When the IDF claimed that al-Wadiyya was a member of PIJ, MSF said they had “no prior knowledge” of his “alleged involvement in military activities” and said they 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 post mourning al-Wadiyya’s martyrdom on Feb. 24 lists the physiotherapist as an assistant to the military manufacturing unit of PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades.
Fox News Digital asked MSF whether they were aware of al-Wadiyya’s PIJ connections prior to the martyr announcement. A spokesperson said, “We would not knowingly employ people engaging in military activity” as it “would pose a danger to our staff and patients by compromising our neutrality.”
Hamas terrorists marching in Gaza during a parade. (Getty Images)
The spokesperson said that “MSF had no indication that Fadi Al Wadiya might have been involved in military activity of any kind prior to the Israeli authorities’ online posts in June 2024. In the immediate aftermath of Al-Wadiya’s killing, we asked for explanations from the Israeli authorities, but never received an official response. If the Israeli authorities were aware of Al-Wadiya’s links with militant activities, they never shared this info with us until after he was killed. To this day, the only information they shared and that we are aware of is what was shared through public social media posts.”
The IDF banned MSF operations in Gaza from the beginning of March because the organization refused to provide a list of its Palestinian employees. In response to Fox News Digital’s questions about whether they would consider providing this list to the IDF presently, MSF’s spokesperson said, “We did not share our staff lists with Israel because we did not receive concrete assurances to ensure the safety of our staff or the independent management of our operations. This is a place where humanitarian workers have frequently been detained, attacked, and killed. We have a responsibility to protect our colleagues from harm.”
Epstein shared several other cases of healthcare workers who played prominent roles in terror groups.
Ambulances carrying patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, Gaza City. Oct. 12, 2024. (Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Mohammed Akram Abdullah al-Kafarna was mourned by the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association’s Facebook page as the nursing supervisor at Kamal Adwan Hospital and by the Institute for Palestine Studies as head of the Gaza nursing system. A Telegram account that lists members of Hamas’ best-outfitted 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 martyred in Khan Younis in June 2025. The Institute for Palestine Studies labels 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 Operations Unit of the Al-Quds Brigades.
Jaber Abdulhamid Diab Mohammedin was mourned on the Palestinian Ministry of Health General Directorate of Nursing’s Facebook page as an Intensive Care Unit nurse at the Al-Rantisi Specialized Children’s Hospital. A Telegram account linked to the Islamic Jihad Movement lists Mohammedin as a commander in the military manufacturing unit of the PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigade.
Nidal Jaber Abdulfattah al-Najjar is labeled as an administrator at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, according to the Institute for Palestine Studies, while a mourner on Facebook noted that he worked in the Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital. He is labeled on a Telegram account emblazoned with Hamas’ distinctive red triangle as a martyr commander of Hamas’ Al-Radwan Battalion.
IDF forces are seen operating in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
Salo Aizenberg, director of media watchdog group HonestReporting, told Fox News Digital that he is tracking at least ten “virtually indisputable” examples of journalists who are actually combatants, working with Hamas and other terrorist groups.
David Adesnik, vice president of research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that he has also been tracking the disclosures. “With PIJ, the number of commanders who operated with civilian cover is striking,” Adesnik said. “We’re at a point where the evidence indicates that this duplicity was a routine part of a strategy to infiltrate civilian organization, especially humanitarian ones. This provides access and protection while ensuring outrage when these supposed humanitarians are killed.”
Adesnik said he believes it “likely that Hamas also employed this strategy in a systematic way, but right now we mainly have the PIJ disclosures. Given that Hamas is many times larger, if it were to disclose this kind of information, the effects could easily ripple across the humanitarian sector in Gaza.”
Among the cases Aizenberg is tracking are media workers. He said that his list is “based solely on admissions by those groups and other Gazan sources,” and “does not include the many additional examples identified through Israeli evidence.”
Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas terro leader who was killed by the IDF, waves to a crowd in Gaza. (Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Though the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) cites Yacoup Al-Borsch as a journalist and the executive director of Namaa Radio, Aizenberg has found “numerous social media posts and martyr notices identifying him as a fighter and ‘mujahid.’” This includes a Facebook post from an account affiliated with the Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia.
Ahmed Abu Sharia was a freelancer who worked for outlets like Iranian Tasnim News Agency, the CPJ says. According to the “official” Telegram site of the Mujahideen Brigades, the Palestinian Mujahideen movement’s military wing, he was also a member of the Mujahideen Brigades.
Rizq Abu Shakian was a “media worker and administrator for the pro-Hamas Palestine Now Agency,” according to CPJ. Shakian also appears in 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.
In response to questions about whether CPJ would update listings of journalists who have been claimed as terror affiliates, the group directed Fox News Digital to its policy for updating listings, which states, “CPJ has a long-standing policy of updating its data and the accompanying narrative accounts without issuing formal corrections as new information becomes available over time. In certain cases, a record may be removed from public view when new information leads CPJ to determine that a case falls outside its mandate or for security concerns, such as the safety of the journalist and their family. CPJ will publicly record when it has removed a journalist from the database for a reason outside of security concerns. “
As the shaky ceasefire in Gaza continues, analysts say they continue to place value in closely examining the war’s casualties. Epstein said that “reviewing cases of militants who held dual civilian roles in key sectors like media, healthcare and education is important for the historical record and underscores the information limitations press, government, and analysts face in real time during conflict.” He said that “over time, militant identification can give a sense of just how deep Hamas, PIJ and other militant groups’ hold over key sectors in Gaza was.”
