Ibrahim Sheikh Ali, a Palestinian producer at the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)-affiliated channel, Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, was one of five journalists killed in a December 26, 2024 strike on their vehicle outside Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. The Associated Press reported that footage showed the van had visible press markings.
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said that intelligence from multiple sources – including a list found during an operation in Gaza – had confirmed that those killed were Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists and that the Israeli military had taken “many steps” before the raid “to reduce the possibility of civilian casualties, including the use of precision munitions, aerial reconnaissance and other intelligence information.” The IDF did not provide any evidence to substantiate its claims.
In June 2026, CPJ undertook a review of its documentation of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza war since 2023.
An obituary published by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on Telegram in May 2026 by PIJ, which was subsequently deleted, described Sheikh Ali as “Martyr Commander, Central Operations Unit.” CPJ also reviewed an undated image showing Sheikh Ali in civilian clothing posing with a rifle.
According to three independent sources who knew the journalist and were familiar with his work, Sheikh Ali had been affiliated with PIJ prior to 2014, but has not been a member of an armed group or participated in combat-related activities since being injured in an air strike that year.
He worked as an active field producer throughout the latest war in Gaza, according to those interviewed.
Based on the available evidence, CPJ was unable to determine that Sheikh Ali was an active combatant, and therefore qualified as a journalist under the organization’s methodology, and has retained him in its database.
Sheikh Ali was previously classified as a Media Worker in CPJ’s database. Based on new information gathered during the verification process, CPJ determined that his work and activities better met the definition of a Journalist under the organization’s methodology, and has reclassified him as such.
CPJ continues to investigate cases involving journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war and routinely reviews and updates its documentation when credible new information becomes available.
The other journalists killed alongside Sheikh Ali were correspondent Faisal Abu Al Qumsan, camera operator Ayman Al Gedi, camera operator and video editor Fadi Hassouna, and editor Mohammed Al-Ladaa.
Al-Quds Al-Youm said in a December 26 statement that the five were killed as they carried out their “media and humanitarian duty.”
Talal Al Arrouqi, a correspondent for privately owned Qatari-based broadcaster Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent, told CPJ that he was sleeping in the hospital corridors when they heard an explosion around 1:30 a.m. “When we went out, we found a huge fire in the Al-Quds Al-Youm satellite channel’s broadcast vehicle. There was only a wall separating us. We tried to put out the fire, but we failed.”
Al Arrouqi said that it was common for their Al-Quds Al-Youm colleagues to sleep in their vehicle. “We found their bodies charred, and some of their limbs had been severed.”
CPJ did not receive a response to its December 26, 2024, email to the IDF’s North America Media desk asking whether the journalists were targeted for their work or whether there was any evidence that they were militants.