From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 24, 2024
IDF releases more documents showing how Hamas instructed Al Jazeera to cover up failed rocket launches
The IDF reveals additional documents indicating close cooperation between Hamas and Al Jazeera, including advising the Qatari channel not to criticize the Palestinian terror group, concealing incidents of failed rocket launches, and establishing a secure communication line between Hamas and Al Jazeera.
A day after publicizing documents uncovered in the Gaza Strip that show that six active Al Jazeera reporters are operatives in Palestinian terror groups, the military releases a document from 2022 in which Hamas provides Al Jazeera with instructions on how to cover up a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch in Jabaliya in which several civilians were killed.
The document instructs Al Jazeera not to use the word “massacre” to describe the incident, to display minimal images, and to make sure Hamas was not criticized in panel discussions.
In another document released by the IDF today, also from 2022, Hamas instructed journalist Tamer Almisshall to support the “resistance” in his coverage of Palestinian Islamic Jihad during a 66-hour battle between Israel and the terror group, dubbed Operation Breaking Dawn.
The document specifically instructed Al Jazeera not to criticize PIJ’s rocket capability or highlight its failed launches.
The military also releases evidence of Hamas’s efforts in 2023 to establish a secure line between the terror group and the channel for classified information and 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,” the IDF says in a statement.
Yesterday, the IDF released documents it said showed that Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif, Alaa Salameh, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf al-Sarraj, Ismail Abu Omar and Talal al-Arrouqi are operatives in the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.
