Israel accuses 6 Al Jazeera journalists of being militants, network denies

The Israeli military has accused six Al Jazeera journalists of being Palestinian militants in Gaza and said they were affiliated with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups. The Doha-based media network, however, dismissed the “unfounded allegations”.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that it "disclosed intelligence information and numerous documents found in Gaza confirming military affiliation of six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations, including personnel tables, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for terrorists".

"These documents serve as proof of the integration of Hamas terrorists within the Qatari Al Jazeera media network," it said in a tweet on Wednesday.

The military added that most of the journalists that it had exposed as operatives "spearhead the propaganda for Hamas at Al Jazeera".

According to the IDF, Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif, Hossam Shabat, Ismael Abu Omar, and Talal Arrouki have ties to Hamas, while Ashraf Saraj and Alaa Salameh were affiliated with the Islamic Jihad.

In a statement condemning the allegations, Al Jazeera said it "categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces’ portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence".

“The Network 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."

The Doha-based network said the "baseless claims" came after its "recent expose of potential war crimes committed by Israeli forces" in Gaza during the ongoing war with Hamas.

Al Jazeera further claimed that it is the only international media network which is documenting the "unfolding humanitarian crisis resulting from Israel's siege and bombardment of civilian populations".

New York-based non-profit, Committee to Protect Journalists, also slammed Israel's accusations and said the Jewish nation has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence.

"After killing Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Al Ghoul in July, the IDF previously produced a similar document, which contained contradictory information, showing that Al Ghoul, born in 1997, received a Hamas military ranking in 2007, when he would have been 10 years old," it tweeted.

According to Al Jazeera, at least four of its journalists have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza since the war erupted in October 2023.

Citing threats to national security, the cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May ordered the local offices of Al Jazeera to shut down operations, marking the first time that the Jewish nation ever shuttered a foreign news outlet from operating.

Just a day after the extraordinary order, which also included confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, Israeli police raided a hotel room in East Jerusalem from where the network had been broadcasting live images.

Last month, armed and masked Israeli soldiers raided Al Jazeera's office in the West Bank during a live broadcast and ordered the staff to take their cameras and leave the office soon.

They also handed over the closure order to the network’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari who read it out live on air.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 128 journalists have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war started.

They victims comprise 123 Palestinians, two Israelis and three Lebanese.