IDF says Gaza documents prove 6 Al Jazeera journalists are Hamas, PIJ operatives
Army shares personnel spreadsheets, lists of training courses and salary papers uncovered in Strip; Qatari network blasts ‘fabricated accusations’ against employees
The IDF said Wednesday it had uncovered documents in the Gaza Strip that show six active Al Jazeera reporters are operatives in the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.
The journalists were named by the IDF as Anas al-Sharif, Alaa Salameh, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf al-Sarraj, Ismail Abu Omar and Talal al-Arrouqi.
According to the IDF, al-Sharif has served as head of a rocket launching squad and a member of a Nukhba Force company in Hamas’s Nuseirat Battalion; Salameh as the deputy head of the Shaboura Battalion’s propaganda unit in Islamic Jihad; Shabat as a sniper in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion; al-Sarraj as a member of Islamic Jihad’s Bureij Battalion; Abu Omar as a training company commander in the East Khan Younis Battalion (and was wounded in an Israeli airstrike several months ago); and al-Arrouqi as a team commander in Hamas’s Nuseirat Battalion.
The military released the documents it said showed personnel spreadsheets, lists of training courses, telephone books and salary documents.
It said the documents “unequivocally prove” that the journalists functioned as members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s respective military wings.
“These documents are proof of the involvement of Hamas terrorists in the Qatari media network, Al-Jazeera,” the IDF said.
It added that the named journalists are “spearheading” the spread of Hamas propaganda on Al Jazeera, especially in the northern Gaza Strip.
In a response, the network said it “views these fabricated accusations as a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide.”
According to the station, “These baseless claims follow Al Jazeera’s recent exposé of potential war crimes committed by Israeli forces during the ongoing war on Gaza. These journalists have been steadfastly reporting from northern Gaza, with Al Jazeera being the sole international media presence documenting the unfolding humanitarian crisis resulting from Israel’s siege and bombardment of civilian populations.”
In January, Israel said an Al Jazeera staff journalist and a freelancer killed in an airstrike in Gaza were terror operatives.
The following month, it accused another journalist with the channel, who was wounded in a separate strike, of being a deputy company commander with Hamas.
Al Jazeera has fiercely denied Israel’s allegations and accused it of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the Gaza Strip.
In April, the government passed an emergency law to take the network off the air and block its broadcasts for violating national security. Courts have upheld the legislation, citing confidential information.
In June, a court found that there is a direct and causal connection between individuals who have carried out terror attacks inside Israel and the consumption of Al Jazeera content. It also determined that there was a “close connection” between Al Jazeera and Hamas, that some Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza had turned themselves into “assistants and partners” with Hamas, and that some of them had even carried out terror attacks.
Last month, Israel’s Government Press Office announced that it was revoking the press cards of Al Jazeera journalists working in Israel.
Though Israeli officials have long complained about Al Jazeera’s coverage, which they say is heavily influenced by Hamas and endangers IDF troops in Gaza, in the past they stopped short of taking action. Qatar bankrolled Palestinian construction projects in the Gaza Strip prior to the war, which were seen by all sides as a means of staving off conflict. PJC
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