Hooray, We Have a "Fighter"

And in that previous NYTimes' story, look what I found:-

Sami Fayyad, 30, was a fighter with Islamic Jihad’s military wing

.

and

At the Khan Yunis hospital were the bodies of two other Palestinian fighters killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops. Munir Burhom, 22, and Burhom Abu Lehyia, age unknown, were members of Hamas’s military wing. Two more Hamas fighters were also killed Thursday...

A fighter. A military wing member. Not a militant.

But is a fighter closer to soldier or to terrorist?

Hooray! Not 'Militants'; 'Fighters'

We're making progress.

The BBC has a slight alteration in semantics. Progress. Well, almost. Headline has "fighters" and story has "militants" and "members".

Israel troops kill Hamas fighters

Militants ended a truce and launched rockets on Tuesday

Israeli troops have shot dead at least three members of Hamas' armed wing in a clash on the Gaza-Israel border, Hamas and the Israeli army have said. The incident took place at about 0830 (0530 GMT), north-west of Gaza City.

The Israeli military said four Hamas members were caught trying to plant a bomb on the security barrier between Gaza and Israel and were fired on.