Mamdani used Washah’s death as a justification for calling AIPAC ‘monsters’
A day after New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the killing of “an Al Jazeera journalist, Ahmed Washah,” in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Saturday, a video surfaced showing Washah aggressively firing an automatic rifle in the air and posing with a sniper rifle with a huge sight while wearing a militant headband.
The Israel Defense Forces say that Washah was a Hamas sniper and active combatant who also worked as a photojournalist for Al Jazeera—one of a long list of Palestinian militants in Gaza who are masquerading as journalists.
“Take note, @NYCMayor Mamdani. Ahmed Wishah was not just an Al-Jazeera cameraman killed by the Israeli military. He was a member of a terrorist organization in Gaza,” said Joe Truzman, an intelligence analyst who tracks Palestinian armed groups and verified the video that shows Washah.
Take note, @NYCMayor Mamdani. Ahmed Wishah was not just an Al-Jazeera cameraman killed by the Israeli military. He was a member of a terrorist organization in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/KqwkRAq3TC
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) June 23, 2026
Truzman later identified Washah’s headband as representing the West Bank terrorist group Lions’ Den.
When Mamdani was asked during a press conference on Monday if he regretted calling the pro-Israel organization AIPAC “monsters who move dark money,” the fiercely anti-Israel mayor defended his stance by using Washah as an example of Israel’s supposed crimes.
“We’re talking about a status quo where children are being killed on a daily basis,” he said. “More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since the so-called ceasefire. Even an Al Jazeera journalist, Ahmed Washah, who was killed this past Saturday by an Israeli strike.”
Mamdani: We’re talking about a status quo where children are being killed on a daily basis. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since the so-called ceasefire.
When I am speaking about AIPAC, I’m speaking about an organization that has been…
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 22, 2026
But Washah—like more than 150 other Gaza “journalists” killed in military operations—was an active terrorist. According to the IDF, Washah “advanced sniper attack plans and additional terrorist activities against IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip.” Al Jazeera, meanwhile, published a touching tribute to their fallen cameraman, hailing him as a “kind, principled” colleague but not mentioning his other job.
Mamdani’s denunciation of Washah’s death came several hours after the IDF publicly announced that Washah was a Hamas fighter as well as an Al Jazeera employee.
NYC Mayor Mamdani lashed out at Israel yesterday for eliminating Ahmed Wishah, an Al Jazeera “journalist”
Palestinians posted an obituary of Wishah, the journalist 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/LwBX1mskHZ
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 23, 2026
Washah, a 25-year-old Gaza resident, was killed Saturday during a “precise strike in the central Gaza Strip” that also killed two other Hamas operatives, according to the IDF. Washah’s brother, fellow Al Jazeera “journalist” Muhammad Samir Muhammad Washah, was killed several weeks ago in a similar IDF attack targeting Hamas operatives inside Gaza. Muhammad Washah acted as “a key terrorist in Hamas’ rocket and weapons production headquarters,” the IDF said.
The Washah brothers join around a dozen or so Al Jazeera reporters and photojournalists who have been killed by the IDF for also working for terror groups like Hamas and its Palestinian Islamic Jihad counterpart.
Al Jazeera’s glowing obituary for Washah that omitted any mention of his terrorist activities and accused Israel of intentionally killing a working journalist. Ahmed Washah, the Qatari-controlled outlet wrote, “was killed on Saturday, weeks after his brother Mohammed, who also worked for the Doha-based network, was killed in deliberate Israeli shelling of his car.”
In an interview shortly after Muhammad Washah was killed, Ahmed Washah hailed his brother’s “martyrdom.”
“Let the martyrdom of Mohammed Wishah be the end to the killing of journalists. This is my message to the world. Someone should stop the occupation from targeting journalists,” he said at the time. “That’s our only message: Stop the Israeli occupation from targeting journalists.”
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