Drone strike in Jabalia kills 2 as reports differ on who was killed

Two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, an Israeli Telegram channel and The Times of Israel both reported. Abu Ali Express, a Hebrew-language Telegram channel, wrote that the strike hit the area of Abu Sharkh square in Jabalia and named the dead as Moamen al-Shandaghli and Rajab Rihan. The channel used a Hebrew term that translates as "eliminated" to describe the two.

The Times of Israel, citing local Palestinian media, reported that two Palestinians died when Israel struck the northern part of Gaza City, and that several other people were wounded. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel's military, told the newspaper that it had struck two terror operatives in the area and that it was still reviewing the outcome of the strike.

Where the accounts agree and where they differ

Both reports describe an Israeli strike in the north of Gaza that killed two people. Both include a man with the surname al-Shandaghli: Abu Ali Express gives the name as Moamen al-Shandaghli, while The Times of Israel, relying on Palestinian outlets, gives it as Momen Rizk al-Shandaghli. These appear to be different transliterations of the same name, with the second including a middle name, though neither report confirms this.

The two accounts do not agree on the second person killed. Abu Ali Express names him as Rajab Rihan. The Palestinian media reports cited by The Times of Israel name him as Mohammed Jihad Omar. Neither source explains the difference, and it has not been resolved in the material available. We are reporting both names as given.

The reports also describe the location differently. Abu Ali Express places the strike at a named square in Jabalia. The Times of Israel locates it more generally in the north of Gaza City. Jabalia lies on the northern edge of the Gaza City area, so the two descriptions are not necessarily in conflict, but only one report gives a specific site.

Only The Times of Israel, through Palestinian media, reports that others were wounded. Abu Ali Express does not mention injuries.

What Jabalia is

Jabalia is a densely built area in the northern Gaza Strip that includes one of the territory's best-known refugee camps, home to families descended from Palestinians displaced from what is now Israel. It sits just north of Gaza City, the Strip's largest urban centre, and has been the scene of heavy fighting and repeated Israeli military operations during the war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza. A photograph accompanying The Times of Israel's report showed people walking past destroyed buildings in Gaza City on November 8, 2026.

The sources and the language they use

Abu Ali Express is an Israeli Telegram channel that reports in Hebrew on events in Gaza and the wider Arab world, often posting names and details soon after they appear in Palestinian outlets. Its post said the attack had taken place a little earlier. The Hebrew word it used for the type of aircraft is an acronym for an unmanned aerial vehicle, the standard Israeli military term for a drone.

The Times of Israel is an English-language Israeli news site. Its item appeared on its live blog, and it attributed the casualty details to Palestinian media rather than to its own reporting on the ground. The only Israeli official position in the material is the IDF's statement to the newspaper.

The IDF's description

The IDF did not name the people it targeted in its comment to The Times of Israel, and it did not say which organisation it believes they belonged to. It described them as terror operatives, a term the Israeli military uses for members of armed groups in Gaza. Its statement that the results were under review means it had not, at the time, confirmed the deaths reported by Palestinian media.

What the reports do not say

• Which of the two names given for the second person killed is correct, or whether the reports refer to different people.
• Which armed group, if any, the IDF says the two men belonged to, and what it says they were doing when they were struck.
• The outcome of the IDF review of the strike.
• How many people were wounded and how seriously; the reports give no figure.
• Whether Hamas or any other Palestinian group has commented on the two men.