The Al Jazeera Media Network logo is seen on its headquarters building in Doha, Qatar, June 8, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon

i24 News – Noa Argamani, the Israeli hostage freed with three others in an audacious rescue operation by the Israel Border Police’s elite Yamam unit, was held captive in the family home of Gazan “civilians,” a report said on Sunday.

Rami Abdul, the chairman of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said that the organization’s initial evidence showed the Israeli special forces used a ladder to enter the home of Dr. Ahmed Al-Jamal and his family.

Several of the family members were killed during the operation including 36-year-old Al Jazeera contributor Abdullah Al-Jamal. According to the Quds news agency, Al-Jamal was also identified as a staff writer for the U.S. outlet The Palestine Chronicle. Al-Jamal’s wife was also killed during the rescue mission.

Absolutely no shame at all: Palestinian report reveals the identity of the "innocent civilians" who held israeli hostages in their home including @AJEnglish "journalist" Abdullah a/Al-Jamal and his father who is a medical Dr. https://t.co/408uPbx7he

— Guy Azriel (@GuyAz) June 9, 2024

Meanwhile, Imran Khan, a senior correspondent on Al Jazeera‘s English channel published an Instagram post distancing the network from Al-Jamal, saying he was a freelancer in the past. Khan wrote, “The individual in question who was killed in the raid along with his family was, at one point, a freelance journalist. He has never worked for Al Jazeera Arabic or English.”

The operation, during which the three other hostages were also rescued from a separate location, has drawn condemnation for the high alleged death toll on the Palestinian side. However, these criticisms fail to address the responsibility of holding captives in populated areas deep inside Gaza’s residential areas.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also failed to address why so-called “civilians” were in custody of Argamani, an Israeli hostage who was kidnapped along with her boyfriend during the Nova music festival on October 7. Hamas allegedly paid civilian families to hold Israeli hostages.

The organization also called for an investigation into claims that the Israeli forces used the U.S. humanitarian aid pier to enter. This claim has been denied by both the U.S. and Israel.

In response to this allegation, Palestinians have said they would boycott aid that was transferred via the pier, which only returned to operation this weekend after bad weather put it out of order in late May.