Neither Killed Nor Crucified

In S 4:157 we read of some unnamed people saying that they had killed Isa.

And their saying: We killed The Messiah Isa Son Of Maryam, Allah's messenger. And they did not kill him and they did not crucify him but it was made to appear to them. And those who have differed about it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, of a certainty.

But the author states that they didn't kill or crucify him. Did the author think that crucifixion was not a death penalty but that a man might be killed THEN crucified? In Al-Tabari's tafsir we read:

" وما قتلوه وما صلبوه ولكن شبه لهم "، يعني: وما قتلوا عيسى وما صلبوه ولكن شبه لهم.

"And they did not kill him and they did not crucify him but it was made to appear to them." Meaning: And they didn't kill Isa and they didn't crucify him but it was made to appear to them.

...

أنا عيسى= وقد صوّره الله على صورة عيسى، فأخذوه فقتلوه وصلبوه.

I am Isa=and Allah formed him upon the image of Isa, and they took him and killed him and crucified him. https://quran.ksu.edu.sa/tafseer/tabary/sura4-aya157.html

Further reading: The Crucifixion of Christ - A Christian Critique of the Quran