IDF says it killed key Hamas terrorist who posed as Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza

The IDF says it killed a “key” Hamas operative who moonlighted as a journalist for Al Jazeera.

In February 2024, the IDF first revealed that Al Jazeera journalist Muhammad Washah was a member of Hamas’s military wing. The military says he was a “key terrorist in Hamas’s rocket and weapons production headquarters.”

The IDF says it struck and killed Washah yesterday in the central Gaza Strip, after he had been planning attacks against Israeli troops stationed in the area.

Washah was “actively involved in planning attacks against IDF troops, and posed a concrete threat to forces in the area,” the IDF says.

“Throughout the war, Washah was involved in the production of drones, rockets, and additional weaponry, and also took part in the transfer of weapons through the Gaza Strip,” the military says.

The IDF says Washah operated “under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist, exploiting this identity in order to advance terrorist activities against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”

Al Jazeera has fiercely denied Israel’s allegations and accused it of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the Gaza Strip.

צה"ל חיסל מחבל של ארגון הטרור חמאס שהיווה איום לכוחות במרחב ופעל במסווה של עיתונאי

כוחות צה"ל בפיקוד הדרום תקפו וחיסלו אתמול את מחמד סמיר מחמד ושאח, מחבל מרכזי במטה ייצור הרקטות ואמצעי הלחימה של ארגון הטרור חמאס, שתכנן לבצע מתווי טרור נגד כוחות צה"ל הפועלים במרכז רצועת עזה.… pic.twitter.com/dU8eg1j3UW

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 9, 2026