The IDF announced on Wednesday that six journalists actively working for Al Jazeera were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
The IDF says that due to intelligence recovered from the Gaza Strip during military operations, they can reveal that Anas Al-Sharif, Alaa Salama, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf Saraj, Ismail Abu Amr, and Talal Aruki are all affiliated with the military wings of either Hamas or PIJ.
Al Jazeera denied these claims in a post to X on Wednesday, calling them "unfounded" and "fabricated." It implied that Israel was using this as cover in order to kill more journalists.
Al Jazeera condemns Israeli accusations towards its journalists in Gaza and warns against being a justification for targeting them. pic.twitter.com/m0hu4TjY8h
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 23, 2024
Ismail Abu Amr was injured several months ago in Gaza by an IDF attack; during that period, Al Jazeera denied his membership in Hamas. Documents recovered by the IDF showed this was untrue.
Some of the documents include personnel tables, terrorist training courses, phone books, and salary documents for terrorists.
Al Jazeera employed active terrorists
The IDF said that this "unequivocally proves that they function as military terrorist operatives of the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip."
The IDF also said that these documents prove Al Jazeera has employed them simultaneously.
The exposed journalists are part of Hamas's military wing operating as the vanguard of Hamas's propaganda war against Israel.