Al Jazeera reported Tuesday, citing a Palestinian security source, that an Israeli special operation west of Gaza City failed to assassinate a senior Palestinian security official. According to the report, the force retreated from the Al-Katiba area on motorcycles under Israeli cover, and several family members of the target were wounded. The IDF has not commented on the claim.
Al Jazeera reported Tuesday, citing a Palestinian security source, that an Israeli special operation in western Gaza City failed to assassinate a senior Palestinian security official. According to the report, the force retreated from the Al-Katiba area on motorcycles under Israeli aerial cover, and several family members of the target were wounded. The report surfaced shortly before Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly announced a successful arrest operation in a separate matter.
Earlier today, at 11:18 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported that a joint force of an anti-Hamas militia and the IDF had attempted to kidnap a senior Hamas operative in the same area, triggering heavy exchanges of fire and extensive Israeli airstrikes that left at least eight dead per Gazan sources. A subsequent account from a security source to the Qatari channel Al-Arabi described the incident as an assassination attempt, while Israeli security analyst Yair Goldblatt, citing Arab reports, characterized it as a kidnapping attempt coordinated with the IDF. Al Jazeera's latest report reinforces the assassination-attempt narrative.
Western Gaza City has been a focal point for Israeli operations. In July 2025, an IDF strike targeted a vehicle carrying Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem in the same area, as The Zioneer reported on Thu Jul 9, 18:39 Jerusalem. Background material from the desk's archives also notes an earlier incident in which armed gang members attempted to kidnap a Hamas operative in Gaza on Sun Aug 9, 21:36 Jerusalem.
The IDF has not commented on Al Jazeera's claim. The identity of the intended target and the precise number and nature of casualties remain unverified by independent sources.
4 developments
- DevelopingLebanese reports: extensive drone movement over southern Lebanon
- DevelopingLebanese reports: drone movements over several areas in southern Lebanon
- DevelopingYair Goldblatt reports drone movement over Baghdad, Iraq
- StrongDozens of drones reportedly smuggled into Gaza from Egypt and Israel in recent months
Source and signal
- Open-source intake