(@IsraelinUSA X)

The Israel Defense Forces declassified intelligence showing that six Al Jazeera journalists are actually terrorists affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. When one of those terrorists was injured several months ago in an Israeli strike, Al Jazeera denied his affiliation with Hamas.

The Israeli government said the once-classified information, which originates from documents discovered in the Gaza Strip during military operations over the past year, was "cleared for publication" on Wednesday. It is just the latest evidence tying members of Al Jazeera, the news outlet funded in part by Qatar's Hamas-friendly government, to regional terror groups.

Cleared for publication: 6 Al Jazeera journalists have been exposed as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.

The @IDF has declassified documentation found in Gaza confirming military affiliation of six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist… pic.twitter.com/lxfwpnzs2j

— Embassy of Israel to the USA (@IsraelinUSA) October 23, 2024

Those named by the IDF on Wednesday include Anas Al-Sharif, Alaa Salama, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf Al-Saraj, Ismail Abu Amr, and Talal Aruki, all of whom are affiliated with either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Israel says. Israel released Arabic-language documents that show terrorist training courses, salary records, and personnel tables.

Al-Sharif was identified as the leader of a rocket-launching squad and member of Hamas's Nukhba Force, according to the Times of Israel. Salama is believed to be the deputy head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Shaboura Battalion, which includes a propaganda unit. Shabat reportedly served as a sniper in Hamas's Beit Hanoun Battalion, the documents show, while Al-Saraj served in Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Bureji Battalion. Additionally, Aruki was listed as a team commander in Hamas's Nuseirat Battalion and Abu Amr as a training company commander in Hamas's East Khan Younis Battalion.

Amr was notably injured several months ago during an IDF campaign in Gaza, with Israel identifying him at the time as a Hamas militant. Al Jazeera denied the accusation, and Israel says the latest evidence shows the outlet lied.

The "terrorist-journalist," an IDF spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon, was "struck and injured a few months ago in Gaza." The new documents, the spokesman said, "once again confirm his involvement in terrorist activities," which "the Al Jazeera network has attempted to disassociate itself from."

In addition to the documents it released, Israel has amassed a collection of electronic devices, including tablets and cellphones, that are said to expose the Hamas-Al Jazeera pipeline.

"These provide unequivocal proof that these individuals serve as military operatives for the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip," the IDF spokesman said, adding that the new intelligence exposes "the integration of Hamas terrorists within the Qatari Al Jazeera media network."

Israel banned Al Jazeera from operating in the country earlier this year, saying its inflammatory coverage of the Middle East conflict and cozy relations with Hamas present a national security threat. Multiple Al Jazeera journalists have celebrated Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, and the outlet routinely portrays the Jewish state as responsible for the region's conflict. At the same time, the Washington Post has filled its foreign desk with Al Jazeera veterans, the Free Beacon reported.

Jonathan Schanzer, a veteran Middle East analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, said Israel's latest revelation confirms longstanding concerns over Al Jazeera's ties to Hamas.

"We have been watching the Qataris run Hamas operatives through Al-Jazeera for years," he said. "Before that, it was Al-Qaeda operatives. This is a terror propaganda arm fronting as a news organization. And it's long past time to recognize it as such here in the United States. The Israelis have done us all a favor by exposing this."

Several of those named by Israel were still broadcasting as of Wednesday, posting reports from inside Gaza clad in vests bearing the word "press."

Al-Sharif, for instance, posted a live report from Gaza earlier in the afternoon, claiming that "the occupation," otherwise known as Israel, was forcibly arresting Palestinian men as part of a "genocide." In another dispatch, he purported to document Palestinian efforts to free a child from under rubble "after the Israeli occupation bombed their home in the northern Gaza strip," according to a translation of his Arabic-language posts.

In another Arabic-language post this afternoon, Shabat claimed "the occupation army" kidnapped "four wounded people" from a hospital in Gaza. He also tweeted an interview with a Palestinian woman who claimed "Israeli forces killed her entire family."

Shabat was additionally featured in a March profile that detailed his "resistance in the time of genocide."

Al Jazeera did not respond to a request for comment on Israel's allegations but defended its reporters in a post on X, calling the information about them fabricated.

"Al Jazeera condemns Israeli accusations towards its journalists in Gaza and warns against being a justification for targeting them," the outlet said.

Earlier this month, on the anniversary of Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, Al Jazeera anchorman Jamal Rayyan celebrated the terror spree, saying the mass killing of more than 1,200 women and children "restored the nation's dignity and prestige." The post was subsequently deleted after receiving media attention.

In June, four Israeli hostages were found in the home of Al Jazeera contributor Abdallah Aljamal, who was killed when IDF forces conducted a rescue operation. Al Jazeera attempted to distance itself from Aljamal after the raid but acknowledged his writing had been published on its website.

Earlier in the year, Al Jazeera deleted an inflammatory story falsely accusing Israeli soldiers of raping Palestinian women at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital.

When Israel banned the network in early April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the outlet of "actively" participating in the Oct. 7 attack.

"The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel's activity," Netanyahu said at the time, adding that the Qatari state-controlled news group "harmed Israel's security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited [violence] against IDF soldiers."

Source link