The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has released new documents exposing deep ties between the Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas and the Qatari state-run broadcaster Al Jazeera.
The documents recovered from the possession of Hamas in Gaza “reveal the depth of the collaboration between Al Jazeera and the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF revealed Thursday.
The Qatari TV channel, which has a large viewership in the Middle East and the West, worked closely with Hamas and even covered up its war crimes, the evidence uncovered by the IDF shows. The documents suggest “close cooperation between Hamas and the network—ranging from prohibiting the channel from criticizing the organization, to concealing incidents of failed rocket launches, and even establishing a secure communication line between Hamas and Al Jazeera,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
The damning revelation comes a day after the IDF outed six Al Jazeera journalists as senior members of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups.
The IDF detailed its latest finding linking Al Jazeera to Hamas:
In a 2022 document, Hamas describes how it provided Al Jazeera with clear instructions on covering a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch in Jabaliya, which resulted in the deaths of several civilians. The instructions included avoiding the use of the word “massacre” to describe the event, reducing the display of images from the incident, and ensuring that panel members did not criticize Hamas.Another document from the same year reveals the instructions Hamas gave to journalist Tamer Almisshall regarding his coverage of the Islamic Jihad during Operation “Breaking Dawn” on his program “More Hidden than Revealed”. The instructions were to support the “resistance” in Gaza and to prevent any criticism of the Islamic Jihad’s rocket capabilities, in light of the high number of failed launches.A 2023 document shows that Hamas decided to establish an “Al Jazeera Phone”—a secure line that would allow the organization to communicate with the channel in a classified manner and during emergencies.The documents reveal how Hamas directs Al Jazeera’s media coverage to serve its own interests, preventing the public in Gaza and around the world from discovering the truth about its crimes against Gazan civilians.
In May, the Israeli government temporarily banned the Qatari TV channel in the country over its ties to Palestinian terrorist groups. Despite Western pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his government’s measures against the “terror channel,” saying “Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the Oct. 7 massacre, and incited against Israeli soldiers.”
In September, the IDF raided the West Bank offices of the broadcaster and confiscated documents and devices over its suspected ties to terrorist outfits. Documents released today substantiate those claims. “Al Jazeera reported that the IDF confiscated equipment and documents from the offices,” the Israeli news website YNET reported on September 22. “The building’s surroundings were declared a closed military zone, and trucks were brought in to remove the confiscated items.”
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