Today, Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced 20 more commanders killed in Gaza, including journalists, the head of therapeutic nutrition at Nasser Hospital, and other figures. A few highlights below and a summary: 🧵
Ayman Suleiman Abu Tayr (ID#: 801367459, age 39), a commander in PIJ’s Central Operations Unit, was also a licensed nurse and the head of Nasser Hospital’s Therapeutic Nutrition Unit. He was killed in a June 2025 airstrike.
Alaa Sobh Hamouda al-Hour (ID#: 803500826, age 31), a commander in PIJ’s Financial Administration Unit, was also a psychological counselor at the government-run Muin Bseiso elementary school in Khan Younis. al-Hour was killed in an October 2023, airstrike.
Zakaria Fathi Musleh Abu Ghali (ID#: 800705998, age 36), a commander in PIJ’s Central Military Media Unit, was also a journalist for the PIJ-affiliated al-Quds al-Youm. Abu Ghali is not listed by the CPJ or IFJ as a journalist, but he is by other trackers. He was killed in a February 2024 airstrike.
Sami Musa Abdulkarim Daoud (ID#: 801556390, age 39), a commander in PIJ’s Central Information Unit, was also a cameraman for the government-run Rawafed educational channel. He is not listed as a journalist by the CPJ or IFJ, but is by other trackers.
Mohammed Fayez Abd al-Hassani (ID#: 803140169, age 34), a commander in PIJ’s Central Operations Unit, was also the executive director of the Rawasi Palestine Foundation and a journalist who wrote occasional articles. He was killed in an October 2023 airstrike, and is not listed by the CPJ, but by the IFJ and some other trackers.
Some other interesting details: Zaki Ishtawi Mohammed al-Masri (ID#: 931661839, age 42), signal corps commander in PIJ's Central Brigade, was killed in an airstrike in the al-Aqsa hospital courtyard in September 2024.
Meanwhile, Samer Shehadeh Jabr al-Nuwairi (ID#: 400764163, age 29), commander in PIJ's Central Information Unit, was killed in a strike near a soup kitchen operated by the Qawatef al-Khair foundation, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. for ties to Hamas.
In sum, of 20 PIJ commanders:
- 11 are tied to central PIJ units
- 9 are unit heads at the brigade level
5/20 have a known dual civilian role including:
- 3 journalists/media workers
- 1 medical worker — the head of Nasser Hospital’s therapeutic nutrition department
- 1 medical/educational worker — a psychological counselor at a government-run school
All 20 commanders can be found on the November 2025 MOH death toll list.
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A good example of wartime misinformation: a Nov 2025 al-Jazeera English article about Israa al-Areer, a Gazan freelance journalist, and her search for her missing husband Yasser al-Tawil and brother Diaa al-Areer fails to mention both were Hamas militants killed on October 7. 🧵
al-Jazeera and al-Areer tell one story in English, but open-source documentation and an article by the Felesteen Arabic-language outlet (below), which also interviewed al-Areer only 3 days after the October 7 attack tells a very different one. Below, a side-by-side comparison of several key points, with all links at the end of the thread.
To al-Jazeera (in English. L), al-Areer says that her husband, Yasser Zuhair Ahmed al-Tawil (ID#: 803617968, age 30) typically spent Friday nights with friends and was out late. But to Felesteen (in Arabic, R), who identified al-Tawil as a Qassam Brigades fighter, al-Areer describes al-Tawil as dressing in his military uniform and departing for al-Ribat, which the article translates as vigil/guard duty (see title in previous post).
al-Areer tells al-Jazeera (L) that her husband was part of a group of “curious citizens” who went to the border area to see what was going on after the 10/7 attack began. But to Felesteen (R), she speaks of her husband’s longtime participation in the “ranks of the resistance” and his desire to join the attack.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad recently published the names of an additional 85 commanders killed during the Gaza war. This thread will cover the second half of the list (see next tweet for the first), which includes commanders in media, medical, and police roles. Details below: 🧵
Hassan Abdulfattah Farajallah Farajallah (ID#: 800183485, age 39), an executive at the PIJ-affiliated al-Quds Today TV as well as a news presenter, was the commander of PIJ’s Mobilization Unit in the Northern Brigade. He was also, according to his Facebook page and other social media posts, a human development coach and educator at multiple Gazan schools.
Farajallah was killed in a December 2023 airstrike, and is listed by the IFJ and Hamas-run Government Media Office, though not the Committee to Protect Journalists, as a journalist killed during the war.
Yesterday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad published the names of an additional 86 commanders killed during the Gaza war. Due to the list's size, this thread will analyze one half, which includes 3 journalists, 3 nurses, and 2 lawyers, among others. Details below: 🧵
Many of those listed were previously known to be PIJ commanders or to hold dual roles, but others were not previously identifiable from open-source information. I believe most of these initial journalist IDs were first made by @MiddleEastBuka (apologies to anyone who was first). Links for specific persons and the full set of announcements available -- just DM.
Mohammed Mohammed Nasser Kamel Abu Huweidi (ID#: 803434364, age 29), listed as a journalist for the privately owned al-Istiqlal news outlet, was a commander in PIJ’s Central Military Media Unit. Abu Huweidi was killed in a December 2023 airstrike.
On May 28, 2025, an airstrike on a car in Gaza City killed 4 people, including two employees of the Turkish humanitarian NGO IHH (one the program director) and a journalist for the PIJ-affiliated al-Quds Today TV. New information indicates at least 3/4 were PIJ militants.🧵
Three of those killed—IHH program director Mohammed Jamal al-Mubayyad (45), Ahmed Matar Bustan (ID#: 404600363, age 26), and IHH employee Ishaq Assad al-Tayf (ID#: 409057130, age 21)—were mourned in the days after the strike by a PIJ channel dedicated to the memory of slain PIJ leader Khalil al-Bahtini (in 2023), but without explicit language naming them as militants.
However, today another PIJ-affiliated obituary channel published images explicitly identifying al-Mubayyad as a PIJ commander and Bustan as a fighter. Al-Tayf's face, at right, is blurred in this version of the photo (but not in the previous tweet). al-Mubayyad has yet to be added to the Hamas-run Health Ministry's list of the dead, while all others killed in this strike are on it.
While the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict dominated the news, PIJ released another list of 20 commanders killed during the war in Gaza on March 1. They include the husband of a prominent journalist and an ICU nurse, and 17/20 can be found on the Gaza Health Ministry list. 🧵
Munir Attia Darwish al-Adini (ID#: 800137549, age 40) was a commander in PIJ’s military manufacturing unit. Both he and his wife, prominent Palestinian journalist Wafa Ali Abdrabbo al-Adini (ID#: 801342437, age 38), along with two of their children, were killed in a September 2024 airstrike. This thread has more details:
The list also confirms my previous research from December 2025, which indicated that Jaber Abdulhamid Diab Mohammedin (ID#: 802435446, age 34), an ICU nurse at al-Rantisi children’s hospital, was also a PIJ militant. Mohammedin is listed as a commander in PIJ’s Military Manufacturing Unit, and was killed in a December 2024 airstrike. x.com/GabrielEpstein…
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.🧵
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 Hamas-run GMO) as a journalist.
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 manufacturing unit.