Following the exposure of the involvement of six Al Jazeera correspondents who took part in Hamas’s terrorist activities, the IDF spokesperson in Arabic, Col. Avichay Adraee, revealed a series of documents that point to the depth of the close cooperation between Hamas and the Qatari channel, including Hamas’s directive to prevent any mention of criticism of the terrorist organization, through covering up failed rocket launches, and even the establishment of a secure communication line between Hamas and Al Jazeera.
#خاص وثائق جديدة لحماس تكشف النقاب عن عمق تعاون قناة الجزيرة @AJArabic مع منظمة حماس الإرهابية⭕️بعد كشف النقاب عن ضلوع ستة من مراسلي قناة الجزيرة في الأنشطة الإرهابية، يكشف جيش الدفاع الآن عن وثائق جديدة تشير إلى عمق التعاون المتين بين حماس والقناة بدءًا من اجبار حماس القناة… pic.twitter.com/9W9mxB0E1Z
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 24, 2024
One document from 2023 shows Hamas instructing to set up an “Al Jazeera telephone line” – a secure line that would allow the terrorist organization to communicate secretly with the channel in emergency situations.
In another document from 2022, Hamas is seen as giving Al Jazeera clear instructions regarding how to cover a failed rocket attack by the Islamic Jihad in Jabalya, which killed a number of civilians, including calling to refrain from describing the incident as a “massacre,” minimizing the display of images from the incident, and not allowing guest analysts to criticize Hamas. This directive of silencing criticism of Hamas on Al Jazeera, which brought many Gazans to exploit live broadcasts to sound their criticism of Hamas, was covered in the past by The Jerusalem Post.
A final document from the same year reveals Hamas’s instructions to correspondent Tamer Almisshal regarding covering the activities of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad within the framework of Operation Breaking Dawn (2022) in his program “What is Hidden is Greater,” which was to support the “resistance” in the Strip and not to allow criticism of the missile capabilities of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad despite the number of failed launch incidents, a field which caused much tension between Hamas and the PIJ, as reported by the Post.
Exploitation of the media
“The documents indicate how Hamas controls the press coverage on Al Jazeera to suit its interests while depriving the residents of the Strip and the entire world of the right to know the truth about the crimes it is committing against the people of the Strip,” said Adraee.
Interestingly, a viral video circulated last month showing a masked militant in the Gaza Strip demanding and receiving a press vest from a journalist, an incident which further stressed the exploitation of the media and its prerogatives by armed militants in Gaza.
This video was taken outside a Hamas command center after being targeted by IDF. The masked man needed a press uniform. The masked man got a press uniform. pic.twitter.com/rTc2XkfH1R
— The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) October 14, 2024
In the same context, Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, head of the Qatar Foundation and mother of the current Emir of Qatar, published a tweet in Arabic and English implicitly eulogizing former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The Sheikha wrote on her X/Twitter account: “The name Yahya means the one who lives. They thought he died, but he lives. Like his namesake, Yahya bin Zakariya [John the Baptist], he will live on, and they will be gone,” plausibly referencing Israel. This instance is reminiscent of the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who sat at the forefront of prayers during the funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in August.
The name Yahya means the one who lives. ⁰They thought him dead but he lives. Like his namesake, Yahya bin Zakariya, he will live on and they will be gone. pic.twitter.com/Ynaz6eVWi3
— موزا بنت ناصر Moza bint Nasser (@mozabintnasser) October 18, 2024
Relations between Qatar and Hamas have been cordial for many years, as Doha has been providing support to the terrorist organization on both ideological and material levels, harboring the leaders of the terrorist organization in the past 12 years, granting them asylum and supporting their counterparts in Gaza through economic, political and media-related efforts. Qatar is also seen as a main supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood axis worldwide, a fundamentalist stream of which Hamas self-describes as the Palestinian branch.
In this context, since the October 7 massacre led by Hamas, the Qatari Emir has been trying to promote Doha’s role as an actor in brokering hostages-for-convicted-terrorists deals between the parties.