Israel's Shin Bet has allegedly adopted a practice of threatening targets in Gaza by calling their phones and giving them a choice between having their whole family bombed or being killed alone, according to a report from London-based Arabic-language news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat.
The outlet reportedly interviewed several Gazans whom it describes as "Palestinian faction activists," as well as their families, and they all had similar experiences.
The most recent event, according to Asharq Al-Awsat, happened to Gazan man Muhammad Al-Bayouk on Wednesday afternoon. He was allegedly targeted via an IDF drone while he was on the roof of a displaced people shelter 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 whole shelter bombed with his family inside or going up to the roof to be targeted alone. The report then alleges that he chose the latter option, went up to the roof, and was killed by a small projectile.
A source told Asharq Al-Aqsat that the targets in all such cases were "activists who had a connection to military action." This is different from "senior and prominent field leaders," which the report claimed are "assassinated during violent attacks with missiles and several suicide drones, even at the expense of taking the lives of a large number of civilians."
IDF regularly reports high-profile kills in Gaza
The IDF and the Shin Bet have not been approached for comment on the matter. The IDF regularly reports on high-profile terror 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 multiple 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 striking lower-profile targets matching the description Asharq Al-Awsat provided. The Jerusalem Post, however, understands that the IDF and Shin Bet have carried out similar operations in the past, although the ones mentioned in the recent report could not be confirmed.
IDF kills four Hamas, Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza strikes during weekend operations
Also in Khan Younis, the IDF recently struck and killed four Islamic Jihad operatives in a series of targeted strikes, the military announced on Monday.
According to an IDF statement, October 25 airstrikes spanning northern, southern, and central Gaza killed three operatives: Alaa Abu Zaid and Hamdan Suleiman Ibrahim Abu Amra, both members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s military wing, and Fawzi Salam Odat Allah Sawarha, a Hamas sniper accused of directing sniper attacks against IDF troops.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
Follow us on GoogleSource: The Jerusalem Post · MAYA ZANGER-SHAMIR
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