Shin Bet Accused of Calling Gaza Targets to Force Choice Between Family and Solo Strikes

Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency has been accused of employing a specific tactic against targets in the Gaza Strip, one that involves direct communication with the intended victims before a strike is executed. The practice, according to a report by the London-based Arabic-language news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat, presents targets with a binary choice to minimize civilian casualties or eliminate the target individually.

The outlet interviewed several Gazans identified as Palestinian faction activists, as well as their family members, who described similar experiences. In the most recent documented case, Muhammad Al-Bayouk received a phone call from a Shin Bet officer on Wednesday afternoon. Al-Bayouk was located in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The officer allegedly instructed him to go to the roof of a displaced people shelter. If he did not move, the entire shelter would be bombed; if he went to the roof, he would be targeted alone.

Al-Bayouk chose to go to the roof. A source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the targets in these instances were activists with connections to military action, distinct from senior field leaders. The report notes that senior leaders are typically assassinated during violent attacks using missiles and suicide drones, even if such operations result in the deaths of a large number of civilians.

Following the call, Al-Bayouk was killed by a small projectile from an IDF drone. The security establishment has not publicly admitted to striking lower-profile targets that match this specific description, although the Jerusalem Post understands that the IDF and Shin Bet have carried out similar operations in the past. The specific cases mentioned in the recent report could not be independently confirmed.

Neither the IDF nor the Shin Bet has 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 struck and killed Ihab Jamil Abu Taqiya, a Hamas squad commander. Abu Taqiya was involved in holding multiple hostages, including former hostages Noa Argamani, Emily Hand, and Ohad Ben Ami.

In a separate series of operations, the IDF announced on Monday that it had killed four Islamic Jihad operatives in targeted strikes. According to an IDF statement, airstrikes on October 25 spanning northern, southern, and central Gaza resulted in the deaths of Alaa Abu Zaid and Hamdan Suleiman Ibrahim Abu Amra, both members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s military wing. A third operative, Fawzi Salam Odat Allah Sawarha, was a Hamas sniper accused of directing attacks against IDF troops.