Israeli accounts claim that prisoner Diaa Al-Agha killed “a Jewish man,” while these accounts deliberately conceal his identity as an Israeli officer

Israeli accounts and others supportive of the occupation circulated on social media a claim aimed at justifying the detention of the Palestinian prisoner Diaa Al-Agha. They alleged that he killed a “Jewish man” in an attempt to strip the humanitarian aspect from his release.

The Palestinian Observatory “Tahaqaq” investigated the validity of the claim by searching through public sources and found that the claim was misleading. It is being promoted by Israeli accounts to tarnish the image of the released prisoner Diaa Al-Agha.

Contrary to the claim, Diaa Al-Agha was arrested on October 10, 1992, and sentenced to life imprisonment for carrying out an operation against the “Gush Katif” settlement bloc, which was located on land in Khan Yunis before the occupation withdrew from it in 2005. The operation resulted in the killing of the settlement’s security officer, Israeli officer “Mitsa Ben Haim,” after he was targeted with a farming tool.

Ben Haim was a member of the Israeli elite unit “Sayeret Matkal,” according to a report published by Al Jazeera on February 27, 2025. Therefore, the Israeli claims ignore the fact that the deceased was not a “Jewish civilian,” but rather a senior Israeli military officer.

Press reports have indicated that “Mitsa Ben Haim” was one of the planners and executors of the “Ferdan Operation” in Beirut in 1973, which resulted in the assassination of Palestinian leaders Kamal Addouan, Kamal Nasser, and Abu Yusuf Al-Najjar. He also participated in the assassination of Palestinian leader Khalil Al-Wazir, “Abu Jihad,” in Tunisia in 1988.

Israeli accounts deliberately concealed the military identity of the targeted officer to portray the released prisoner Diaa Al-Agha as having killed a “Jewish civilian man,” instead of acknowledging that he targeted a military officer responsible for assassinations of Palestinian leaders. This tactic aims to tarnish Al-Agha’s image and label him as committing a “criminal act,” rather than recognizing that he carried out a resistance operation against the occupation. The goal is to influence global public opinion by garnering international sympathy for the Israeli occupation and portraying it as a party “defending the innocent.”

Some accounts claimed that Diaa Al-Agha was released in 2014, but was later re-arrested for violating the release conditions. However, in reality, he was supposed to be released in March 2014 as part of the fourth and final batch of Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be freed as part of peace negotiations.

However, the Israeli occupation canceled the fourth batch and did not adhere to the agreement, which led to Al-Agha’s continued imprisonment until his release in 2025.

These claims spread after a video documenting the moment of the released prisoner Diaa Al-Agha’s reunion with his mother, after 33 years of detention in Israeli prisons. The footage sparked widespread sympathy across social media platforms.

Diaa Al-Agha gained his freedom on Thursday, February 27, 2025, as part of the seventh batch of the prisoner exchange deal between Palestinian factions and Israel, within the framework of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

The release was originally scheduled for Saturday, February 22, 2025, but the occupation delayed its implementation, citing what it described as “provocative ceremonies” organized by the resistance during the handover of Israeli detainees in Gaza.