Israel kills Hamas sniper who also worked as Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza

The IDF killed a Hamas sniper, who was also working as a journalist for Al Jazeera, in a targeted air strike in the Gaza Strip, the military announced on Saturday evening. 

Ahmed Samir Muhammad Washah, the terrorist killed in the strike, worked as an Al Jazeera photojournalist in Gaza, while also serving as a Hamas sniper operative, planning and conducting attacks on Israeli troops, the IDF said in a statement. 

The military said that Ahmed Samir worked alongside his brother, Muhammad Samir Muhammad Washah, who was killed in a strike in April. Muhammad Samir served in Hamas’ rocket and weapons production headquarters and also worked for Al Jazeera. 

🚨Ahmed Samir Muhammad Washah, killed today by the IDF, was NOT an Al Jazeera journalist but a Hamas operative. Social media posts lauded him as a mujahid and show him armed. His brother Muhammad was also a combatant, like dozens of terrorists now proven as fake "journalists" 1/ pic.twitter.com/Kiyg9NjIBc

— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) June 20, 2026

“IDF forces under Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the [ceasefire] agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the military said in a statement. 

Hamas-affiliated news outlets reported that three people had been killed in two different Israeli strikes around the same time as the IDF conducted the strike on Ahmed Samir Washah. At least one other person was killed in that strike, with reports on social media claiming that Siba'i Abu Hasna, a member of Hamas' Shadow Unit, was killed alongside Washah. 

Alongside Ahmed Wishah, an Al Jazeera journalist whom Israel accused of being a Hamas operative, today's strike also killed Siba'i Abu Hasna, a member of Hamas' Shadow Unit, the organization’s branch responsible for guarding hostages.

So, ask yourselves what was an Al-Jazeera… pic.twitter.com/ZXcWAWfuLY

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) June 20, 2026

At press time, the IDF had not yet confirmed the killing of Abu Hasna. 

Meanwhile, according to reports in Hebrew media, on Sunday morning, the IDF killed two members of a Hamas finance network. 

Hamas terrorists Hussein Qadra and Mohammed Farra, who operated as part of a network to transfer funds into the Gaza Strip, were eliminated in a targeted strike. The two were key figures in Hamas’ international money transfer network, which involves operatives in Turkey. They join a growing list of Hamas financial operatives eliminated over the past year. 

Qadra, the head of the infrastructure, together with Fara and other operatives, helped transfer over half a billion shekels (roughly $US169 million) to Hamas' military wing, through a network of couriers and money changers in Turkey and the Gaza Strip. 

סייעו בהעברה של יותר מחצי מיליארד ש״ח לידי חמאס: צה"ל חיסל מחבלים בתשתית העברת הכספים של ארגון הטרור חמאס ברצועת עזה

צה"ל תקף במהלך השבוע שעבר בדרום רצועת עזה וחיסל את המחבלים חסין קדרה ומחמד פרא - מחבלים בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס והגא״פ.
המחבלים פעלו תחת תשתית המופעלת… pic.twitter.com/Blbzhx6Iix

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 21, 2026

The military says Hamas was able to continue to pay salaries to terrorists and to fund terrorist activity against IDF forces and Israeli civilians, because of these funds, in violation of the ceasefire agreement. 

Six such operatives from Hamas' money transfer infrastructure have been killed in recent weeks, as the IDF works to disrupt Hamas’ ability to rehabilitate in the Gaza Strip.