From the Liveblog of
Sunday, May 18, 2025
IDF publishes documents it says proves Palestinian ‘journalist’ Hassan Eslaiah was Hamas member
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF publishes documents purporting to prove that Palestinian journalist Hassan Eslaiah, who was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike in Gaza last week, was a member of the Hamas terror group’s military wing.
Eslaiah was targeted twice in recent weeks, with the IDF accusing him of being a member of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade and operating “under the guise of a journalist and owner of a press company.” He was killed in a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza on May 13, after being wounded on April 7.
IDF international media spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani posts on X that documents recovered by the IDF from Gaza “reveal a list of operatives” in the 3rd Battalion of Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade. “Among them, Hassan [Eslaiah], listed by name, military number and unit: the so-called ‘Media Platoon,'” he says.
On October 7, 2023, Eslaiah, who was freelancing for The Associated Press, took photos of a burning tank on the Gaza border, which had been attacked by Hamas operatives. He also invaded Israel with the terrorists and photographed them entering Kibbutz Nir Oz, where dozens of civilians were massacred.
????EXCLUSIVE INTELLIGENCE UNCOVERED : Documents recovered by the IDF from inside Gaza reveal a list of operatives in Hamas’ Khan Yunis 3rd Battalion. Among them, Hassan Aslih, listed by name, military number, and unit: the so-called “Media Platoon”.
Aslih was a Hamas operative… pic.twitter.com/BJHTZ9jfTu
— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) May 18, 2025
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