Israel accuses six Al Jazeera journalists of ties to militant groups

The Israeli army has accused six Al Jazeera journalists covering the war in Gaza of being current or former paid fighters for Palestinian militant groups.

Al Jazeera, a television news channel based in Qatar, has denied the accusations, calling them "fabricated" and part of a "wider pattern of hostility".

Israel said it found documents in Gaza, along with other intelligence, that show the journalists — who are all Palestinian men — have been affiliated with Hamas or the paramilitary organisation, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif, Hossam Shabat, Ismael Abu Omar, and Talal Arrouki were accused by Israel of ties to Hamas. Ashraf Saraj and Alaa Salameh were accused of ties to Islamic Jihad.

The men have held various roles, according to documents Israel cited — sniper, infantry soldier, fighter, captain, training coordinator and “propaganda.”

The documents and intelligence Israel released Wednesday purportedly show the rank, role, enlistment date, and battalion of each of the six Al Jazeera journalists.

Al Jazeera and other groups say the claims amount to silencing journalists who are covering the war in Gaza.

The network is one of a handful of news organisations still broadcasting daily from the besieged enclave, with most foreign journalists not allowed access inside Gaza, which is under Israeli blockade.

Israel has allowed some foreign journalists rare and escorted trips inside the territory, which it argued is necessary for journalists' safety.

Al Jazeera said the accusations were “a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide.”

The NGO Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released a similar statement on Wednesday, saying Israel “has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence.”

Several of those named by Israel on Wednesday, including al-Sharif, have acquired celebrity-like status among Palestinians and in other countries across the Middle East for their 24-hour live coverage of Gaza.

Banned in Israel

Al Jazeera is not allowed to operate or broadcast in Israel, after an Israeli court ordered its closure in May — the first time the country shuttered a foreign news outlet.

Since then, Israeli police raided a hotel room in East Jerusalem and an office in the West Bank city of Ramallah to shut down Al Jazeera's operations.

Israel produced similar documents alleging Al Jazeera's journalists were part of Hamas after two were killed in an airstrike in Gaza City.

The CPJ said these documents contained contradictory information, including a line that said one of the journalists, Ismail Al Ghoul, received a Hamas military ranking when he would have been 10 years old.

Even before the war, tensions between Al Jazeera and Israel ran high after Israeli forces shot and killed Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist, in May 2022 as she reported in the West Bank.

Israel isn't the only critic of Al Jazeera. The US singled out the broadcaster during its occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and for airing videos of the late al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the 11 September attacks in New York.