The Israeli military on Wednesday accused six Al Jazeera reporters based in Gaza of being fighters in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the latest escalation in Israel’s ongoing feud with the Arabic-language broadcaster backed by Qatar.
The Israeli military distributed what it said were documents seized from Gaza that showed membership lists, phone directories and salary slips for members of the Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wings of the two groups. The lists included names matching those of the Al Jazeera reporters.
Al Jazeera strongly denied the accusations, which it said were based on “fabricated evidence” and followed a long history of Israeli hostility toward the network. The authenticity and accuracy of the documents could not be immediately confirmed.
The accusations against the six journalists were only the latest chapter in Israel’s campaign against Al Jazeera. The organization’s Arabic-language service is widely seen in Israel as being close to Hamas, and critics have accused the network of amplifying the armed group’s perspective.
The channel’s correspondents are also some of the few remaining reporters on the ground in Gaza to document the devastating impact of Israel’s operations there. Israel has largely barred the international press from entering the enclave except on closely monitored tours accompanied by the Israeli military.
In its statement, Al Jazeera called the accusations “a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide.”
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israel has taken steps to crack down on Al Jazeera, including passing a new security law that it used to shutter many of the network’s operations in the country.
Press freedom advocates have criticized Israel’s measures against the news organization, calling them a serious threat to journalistic independence. They also argue that the law used to curb its activities sets a concerning precedent that could be used to prevent other international media organizations from operating in Israel.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a press freedom monitor, said in a statement following the latest accusations that Israel had “repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence.”
The journalists named by Israel on Wednesday included Anas al-Sharif and Hossam Shabat, two of the last reporters in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have launched a renewed military operation in recent days to oust what they call a Hamas insurgency. At least one of the journalists, Mr. Shabat, wrote posts on social media praising Hamas, and uploaded photos of himself wearing the green-and-white scarf of its student movement.
On Wednesday, Mr. Shabat said in a social media post that the Israeli accusations were intended to turn him and his colleagues into “killable targets.”
In late July, Israel killed Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera reporter in Gaza, in an airstrike, claiming that he was a member of Hamas’s military wing. Al Jazeera rejected the allegation as “baseless.” A cameraman, Rami al-Rifee, was also killed in the strike; the Israeli military did not accuse him of being a militant as well.
Two months later, Israeli soldiers raided the channel’s offices in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and ordered them closed for at least 45 days.
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