BROADCASTER Al Jazeera has strongly rejected a claim from the Israeli military that six of its journalists based in Gaza are members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
On Wednesday evening, the media network condemned the “unfounded allegations” by the Israeli army.
In a post on Twitter/X, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) named six Al Jazeera correspondents as “operatives” working for Hamas’s armed wing to promote the group’s “propaganda”.
The six named journalists are:
- Anas al-Sharif
- Talal Aruki
- Alaa Salama
- Hossam Shabat
- Ismail Farid
- Ashraf Saraj
The military said it had published “documents” which it claims prove the “integration of Hamas terrorists within” the broadcaster and claimed the paper shows lists of people who have completed training courses and salaries.
In a statement, Al Jazeera said: “Al Jazeera 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 network also says that Israeli forces have killed at least three Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza since October last year.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also hitting out at Israel’s claims.
In a statement on Twitter/X, it said: “The Committee to Protect Journalists is aware of accusations made by the IDF against several journalists in Gaza accusing them of being members of militant groups.
“Israel 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.”
According to the CPJ, at least 128 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israeli attacks since the bombardment started.
Former first minister Humza Yousaf shared the statement and said: “Israel has already killed over 100 journalists & media workers in Gaza.“They have now effectively put a hit on the remaining few journalists left in North Gaza. Where’s the outrage from UK & Western journalists when their fellow professionals are being killed with such impunity?”
Al Jazeera has called on the international community to act with the “utmost urgency” to protect the six journalists, adding that it stands firm in its belief that “journalism is not a crime”.
