The Israeli military said on Thursday that an Al Jazeera journalist killed a day earlier in an Israeli strike in Gaza was a Hamas militant who had “operated under the guise of a journalist.”
The journalist, Mohammed Wishah, was a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher. He died following a strike on the vehicle in which he was travelling west of the Gaza Strip, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.
In a statement on Wednesday, Al Jazeera strongly condemned what it called “the heinous crime of targeting and killing” Wishah, describing the attack as “not a random act but a deliberate and targeted crime intended to intimidate journalists.” The network held Israeli occupation forces fully responsible.
Media rights group Reporters Without Borders echoed the condemnation, stating that Wishah’s name joined “those of the more than 220 journalists killed in two and a half years by the Israeli forces in Gaza, at least 70 of whom were killed in the context of performing their duties.”
However, the Israeli military on Thursday offered a different account. It said its forces had “struck and eliminated” Wishah, describing him as “a key terrorist in Hamas’ rocket and weapons production headquarters, who had been planning terrorist attacks against IDF soldiers operating in the area.”
The military added that Wishah had “operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist, exploiting this identity in order to advance terrorist activities against IDF forces and the State of Israel.”
The killing comes despite a ceasefire that has been in effect in Gaza since October. Violence has continued in the Palestinian territory, with Israel and Hamas repeatedly accusing each other of violating the truce.
Al Jazeera noted that Wishah is among 11 of its journalists killed in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by Hamas, which triggered the war. Among them were Mohammad Salama, killed in August 2025, and four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers killed in an Israeli air strike outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in August 2025.
In its statement, Al Jazeera said it would pursue “all necessary legal action to prosecute those responsible for the killing of its correspondents and staff in Gaza, and to seek justice for them and for all fallen journalists.”
