Researchers found health workers, media workers included in the list of terrorists in Gaza death count

With Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) publicly claiming the dead, a new study shows that many previously counted as civilians were actually members of terrorist organizations, undermining allegations that Israeli forces are deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza.

Researchers monitoring death reports from the Hamas-run health ministry told Fox News Digital that an increasing number of ‘martyrs’ are being portrayed as terrorists by their own groups, such as Hamas, despite keeping public information such as health workers or the media.

Gabriel Epstein, senior policy associate at the Israel Policy Forum, told Fox News Digital that he has tracked down many of the people named by Hamas and the PIJ as martyrs killed in the war in Gaza who held positions in the health industry, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs.)

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Epstein found several people labeled as medical professionals who are members of terrorist groups. The most serious revelation from the list of martyrs is Fadi al-Wadiyya, a physiotherapist of Médecins sans frontières, who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces in June 2024. MSF responded to the death, saying they are “angry” and “very critical.”[ed] the killing of a colleague.”

While the IDF said al-Wadiyya was a member of the PIJ, the MSF said it had “no prior information” about his “alleged involvement in military activities” and said they had “received no official explanation” about the “circumstances of his killing.”

On a Telegram account that claims to be the Al-Quds Brigades media outlet, a post mourning the killing of al-Wadiyya on Feb. 24 lists a physiotherapist as an assistant to the PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades military production unit.

Fox News Digital asked MSF if they were aware of al-Wadiyya’s PIJ connections prior to the martyrdom announcement. A spokesperson said, “We will not knowingly hire people who engage in military activities” because “it would be harmful to our staff and patients by compromising our neutrality.”

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Hamas terrorists march in Gaza during a demonstration. (Getty Images)

The spokesman said “MSF had no indication that Fadi Al Wadiya might have been involved in military activities of any kind before the Israeli authorities’ internet posting in June 2024. Shortly after Al-Wadiya’s murder, we asked for explanations from the Israeli authorities, but we did not receive an official response. If the Israeli authorities knew that these actions of Al-Wadiya did not kill us, they did not tell us about his details. Today, the only information they share and that we know about is what is shared through social media posts.”

The IDF shut down MSF operations in Gaza since early March because the organization refused to provide a list of its Palestinian workers. In response to questions from Fox News Digital about whether they would consider giving this list to the IDF at this time, an MSF spokesperson said, “We have not shared a list of our workers with Israel because we have not received concrete guarantees to ensure the safety of our workers or the independent management of our operations. This is an area where social workers are often arrested, attacked, and protected for execution.

Epstein shared several other cases of health workers who played prominent roles in terrorist groups.

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Ambulances carrying patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, Gaza City. October 12, 2024. (Hamza ZH Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Mohammed Akram Abdullah al-Kafarna was mourned on the Facebook page of the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association as the head of nursing at Kamal Adwan Hospital and the Institute for Palestine Studies as the head of the Gaza nursing program. A Telegram account listing members of Hamas’s Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, al-Kafarna is described as one of the martyrs of Beit Hanoun “Qassam”.

Ayman Suleiman Aliyan Abu Tayr was included in the list of martyrs in Khan Younis in June 2025. The Institute for Palestine Studies lists him as a nurse and head of the nutrition department at the Nasser Hospital clinic. According to a Telegram account linked to PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Tayr was a Commander in the central unit of the Al-Quds Brigades.

Jaber Abdulhamid Diab Mohammedin was mourned on the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s Facebook page as an Intensive Care Unit nurse at Al-Rantisi Specialized Children’s Hospital. A Telegram account linked to the Islamic Jihad Movement lists Mohammedin as a commander in the military production unit of PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigade.

Nidal Jaber Abdulfattah al-Najjar is listed as a manager in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, according to the Institute for Palestine Studies, while a Facebook post notes that he works at Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital. He is listed on a Telegram account marked with Hamas’ distinctive red triangle as the martyr commander of Hamas’ Al-Radwan Battalion.

IDF soldiers are seen operating in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)

Salo Aizenberg, director of the media watchdog group HonestReporting, told Fox News Digital that he tracked down at least ten “irrefutable” examples of journalists who are actually soldiers, working with Hamas and other terrorist groups.

David Adesnik, vice president of research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that he had been following the revelations. “With PIJ, the number of managers working on cover people is amazing,” Adesnik said. “We are at a point where the evidence indicates that this proliferation was part of a strategy to penetrate human society, especially humanitarian. This provides access and protection while ensuring outrage when these so-called human beings are killed.”

Adesnik said he believes that “it is possible that Hamas has also used this strategy in a systematic way, but at the moment we have mostly the disclosure of PIJ. Since Hamas is many times bigger, if they were to reveal this kind of information, the consequences could easily flow to the entire humanitarian sector in Gaza.”

Among the cases pursued by Aizenberg are communications workers. He said his list was “based only on the admissions of those groups and other Gazan sources,” and “does not include many additional examples identified by Israeli evidence.”

Yahya Sinwar, a former Hamas terrorist leader who was killed by the IDF, waves to a crowd in Gaza. (Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Although the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) cites Yacoup Al-Borsch as a journalist and the executive director of Namaa Radio, Aizenberg found “numerous social media texts and martyr notices portraying him as a hero and a ‘mujahid.'” These include Facebook posts from an account linked to the Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia.

Ahmed Abu Sharia has been working as a freelancer for outlets such as the Iranian Tasnim News Agency, CPJ said. According to the “official” Telegram site of the Mujahideen Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen, he was also a member of the Mujahideen Brigades.

Rizq Abu Shakian was a “media worker and director of the pro-Hamas Palestine Now Agency,” according to CPJ. Shakian is also seen wearing a Hamas uniform on a Telegram site that shares images of Palestinian martyrs. According to Aizenberg’s research, he was a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades.

In response to questions about whether CPJ will update its listings of journalists accused of collaborating with terrorists, the group directed Fox News Digital to its policy for updating listings, saying, “CPJ has a long-standing policy of updating its data and associated accounts without issuing official corrections as new information becomes available in CPJ’s view over time, when new information becomes available in CPJ’s view over time. The case is outside of its jurisdiction or because of of security concerns, such as the safety of the reporter and his family when we have removed the reporter from the website for reasons other than security concerns.

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As the cease-fire continues to falter in Gaza, analysts say they continue to place importance on monitoring casualties. Epstein said that “reviewing the cases of soldiers who played a dual role in society in important sectors such as media, health and education is important in the historical context and emphasizes the limitations of information that the government and analysts face in real time during the conflict.” He said “in the long run, military identification could give the impression that Hamas, PIJ and other opposition groups hold important sectors in Gaza.”