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…
I recently identified a different employee of al-Rantisi Hospital, administrator Nidal Jaber Abdulfattah al-Najjar, as part of Hamas’ al-Radwan Battalion.
In sum, of the 20 PIJ commanders announced this week:
- 12 were involved in missile and rocket arrays, 7 were involved in military manufacturing, and 1 was a Nukhba company commander
- 17 are on the Hamas-run Health Ministry’s November 2025 death toll list, and the three that are unlisted were killed after or close to the cutoff date.
⁃ Civilian professions can be determined for two of the commanders, including an ICU nurse at al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital
In the last two weeks, PIJ has announced the deaths of 81 mid- and high-level commanders.
Ibrahim Rizq Nimr Arshi (ID#: 802379503, age 35), director of Turkish NGO IHH's nutrition program in Gaza, was a squad leader in the training section of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's central operations unit, Gaza Brigade. Arshi was killed in June 2025 with another PIJ militant. 🧵
Arshi was identified as IHH's (also known as the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation) nutrition program director in Gaza in interviews for multiple al-Jazeera articles from March-May 2025, as well as by the Lebanese newspaper an-Nahar (which referred to him as a social protection officer with IHH instead) and the Hamas-affiliated Shehab news agency.
Memorial posts from family members also show Arshi with an IHH vest during food distributions in undated photos.
On June 18, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published notices for 20 of its slain squad-level leaders in Gaza, bringing the total number of commanders and officers identified since February to 497 across 21 releases. This reflects a shift towards announcing lower-tier military figures. 🧵
In general, these squad-level leaders are more difficult to find information on than higher-ranking commanders. In other cases, they do not appear on the Hamas-run Ministry of Health (MOH) death toll registry despite their deaths being well-publicized.
An example is Mustafa Ismail Mustafa al-Wadiyya, a Nukhba squad leader in PIJ’s Gaza Brigade. His death (and those of at least two brothers who were also PIJ militants) has widely documented by relatives and PIJ-affiliated channels since at least July 2024, but he does not appear on the MOH list.
On June 13, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published notices for 16 more slain military officers in Gaza, bringing the total identified since February to 477 across 20 releases. This set focuses primarily on the Khan Younis Brigade and includes an NGO board member. 🧵
Mohammed Zayed Hamed Zaqmat (ID#: 921895991, age 53), a board member of the National Development Forum educational and cultural NGO, was a platoon deputy in PIJ’s military judicial unit in the Khan Younis Brigade. Zaqmat was killed in an October 2023 airstrike along with several relatives, including one son, Zayed Mohammed Zayed Zaqmat (ID#: 803879220, age 30), who was a militant.
Alaa Ismail Salem Abu Lahia (ID#: 400603866, age 30), a worker at the Zamzam Water Distribution Company, was a platoon deputy within the infrastructure file in PIJ’s Khan Younis Brigade. Abu Lahia was killed in August 2025.
On June 9, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published notices for 19 more slain officers in Gaza, bringing the total identified since February to 461 across 19 releases. This set includes two journalists, a police officer, and a tribal relations official. 🧵
Jumaa Salah Fares Siam (ID#: 900544701, age 46), part of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's coordination file in the Gaza Brigade, publicly worked as a member of PIJ's Public Relations and Reform Committee--responsible for the tribal file in Gaza. Siam was killed in November 2024.🧵
Siam worked for the Reform committee dating back to at least 2013, and was also an important member of his own clan.
An underexplored (and difficult to research) aspect of militant group control in Gaza is their relationship with clans. Coercive efforts, like attacks on the Dughmush and Majayda clans, are well-publicized, but the more subtle day-to-day expressions of power seem to have much more to do with relationship management and internecine politics.
The Public Relations and Reform Committee that Siam sat on for over a decade is a clear example of PIJ's efforts to exert political influence over Gaza clans -- it handled both the movement's relationships with clans and was involved in mediating inter-clan disputes.
Another Gazan militant/journalist: Helmi Mohammed Helmi al-Faqawi (ID#: 401814496, age 28), who worked for the PIJ-affiliated Palestine Today TV outlet, was a deputy squad/platoon-level leader in PIJ's central military media unit in the Khan Younis Brigade. al-Faqawi, killed in an April 2025 strike, was one of several family members involved with PIJ. 🧵
Jamal Aref Salem al-Faqawi (ID#: 402220396, age 27), a journalist at the PIJ-affiliated Mithaq Media Foundation, was a deputy platoon/squad leader in PIJ's central support and supply unit in the Khan Younis Brigade. Jamal was killed in an October 2023 strike, and was first ID'd by @MiddleEastBuka. Both Helmi and Jamal were claimed by PIJ in the same June 9 media release.
I mentioned Helmi al-Faqawi in this earlier identification of Arafat al-Faqawi, a court clerk in Rafah and PIJ commander.