The Israeli army announced that the four hostages released from the Al-Nuseirat camp in Gaza were held in the home of a journalist named Abdullah Al-Jamal and his family.
An official statement from the Israeli army said, "After the Israeli army and Shin Bet finished examining reports on this matter, it can be confirmed that Abdullah Al-Jamal was active in the terrorist organization Hamas, and he is the one who held hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrei Kuzlov, and Shlomi Zeif in his family's house in Al-Nuseirat."
It added, "Abdullah Al-Jamal and his family members kept the hostages in their home. This is further evidence of the deliberate use of civilian homes and buildings by the terrorist organization Hamas to hold Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip."
The statement confirmed that Israeli security forces will continue all possible efforts to bring the hostages home from Hamas.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee noted that Abdullah Al-Jamal works as a journalist for the Qatari network Al-Jazeera while also being a member of Hamas. Adraee tweeted, "In the morning, he is a journalist at Al-Jazeera and at night, a Hamas member holding hostages in Al-Nuseirat... The army has confirmed that Abdullah Al-Jamal was a member of the terrorist organization Hamas, where the Israeli hostages Almog Meir, Andrei Kuzlov, and Shlomi Zeif were held in his home."
He added, "The hostages were held at the home of Abdullah Al-Jamal alongside his family members."
The official page of the Israeli Ministry of Defense stated, "No press vest can absolve him of the crimes he committed." The ministry posted a picture of Al-Jamal on the Al-Jazeera website, questioning, "What is this terrorist doing on your website?"
Hebrew sources indicated that the Israeli captive released from the Al-Nuseirat camp was held by the family of Al-Jazeera photographer Abdullah Al-Jamal.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported, "According to testimony published by the head of a human rights monitoring organization, the occupation forces stormed the home of Dr. Ahmed Al-Jamal, Abdullah's father, and killed three individuals present."
Rami Abdo, founder and head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, tweeted that "initial evidence of the killings carried out by the occupation army in Al-Nuseirat revealed that they used a ladder to enter Dr. Ahmed Al-Jamal's house. The forces killed Fatima (36 years old) on the stairs, who is Abdullah's wife, then entered the house and killed her husband, the journalist, and his father, Dr. Ahmed, aged 74, in front of their grandchildren. The army also shot Zainab, daughter of Ahmed, aged 27, who was injured."
### Hamas Announces His Death
On Sunday evening, Hamas issued a statement specifically announcing "the death of the journalist and editor at the Palestine agency, Abdullah Ahmed Al-Jamal, raising the number of journalists killed to 150 since the start of the war."
### Al-Jazeera Denies Connection
Al-Jazeera denied any connection to the Palestinian journalist, with reports quoting the head of Al-Jazeera's office in Jerusalem, Walid Al-Omari, stating, "This man is not from Al-Jazeera, has never worked for Al-Jazeera at all, and is not listed among Al-Jazeera staff, either currently or previously."
He added, "We do not know him, and all rumors that have been circulated are baseless and entirely untrue."
