Israel’s Shin Bet allegedly adopted a practice of threatening targets in Gaza by calling their phones and giving them the choice between having their entire family bombed or being killed alone, according to a report by a London-based Arabic-language media outlet. Asharq Al-Awsat.
The media outlet reportedly interviewed several Gazans it described as “Palestinian faction activists,” as well as their families, and they all had similar experiences.
The most recent event, according to Asharq Al-Awsat, It happened to Gaza man Muhammad Al-Bayouk on Wednesday afternoon. He was reportedly targeted via an IDF drone while on the roof of a shelter for displaced people in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, after receiving a phone call from a Shin Bet officer giving him the choice between having the entire shelter bombed with his family inside or going up to the roof to be targeted alone. The report then states that he chose the latter option, climbed onto the roof and was killed by a small projectile.
A source said Asharq Al-Aqsat that the targets in all of these cases were “activists with a connection to military action.” This is different from “high-ranking and prominent leaders on the ground,” who, according to the report, are “assassinated in violent attacks with missiles and multiple suicide drones, even at the cost of the deaths of large numbers of civilians.”
The Israeli military and Shin Bet could not be contacted for comment on the matter. The Israeli military regularly reports high-profile terrorist targets killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, using Shin Bet intelligence. Most recently, Israeli forces acting on Shin Bet intelligence struck and killed Ihab Jamil Abu Taqiya, a Hamas squad commander who was involved in holding several hostages during their captivity in Gaza, including former hostages Noa Argamani, Emily Hand and Ohad Ben Ami.
The security establishment has not publicly admitted to hitting more discreet targets fitting the description. Asharq Al-Awsat provided. The Jerusalem Post, However, he understands that the IDF and Shin Bet have carried out similar operations in the past, although those mentioned in the recent report could not be confirmed.
According to an IDF statement, the October 25 airstrikes covering north, south and central Gaza killed three operatives: Alaa Abu Zaid and Hamdan Suleiman Ibrahim Abu Amra, both members of the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Fawzi Salam Odat Allah Sawarha, a Hamas sniper accused of leading sniper attacks against IDF troops.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.
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