On Wednesday Oct 23, the Israel Defence Forces reported that that they have uncovered documents in the Gaza Strip that lists six Al Jazeera journalists as militants of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror groups. This is not the first time the network has been linked to extremist outfits, however now even its journalists are being named as terror operatives

Details provided by the IDF

The journalists named by the IDF are Anas al-Sharif, Alaa Salameh, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf al-Sarraj, Ismail Abu Omar and Talal al-Arrouqi. According to the IDF, Anas al-Sharif has served as head of a rocket launching squad and a member of a Nukhba Force company in Hamas’ Nuseirat Battalion; Alaa Salameh as the deputy head of the Shaboura Battalion’s propaganda unit in Islamic Jihad; Hossam Shabat as a sniper in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion; Ashraf al-Sarraj as a member of Islamic Jihad’s Bureij Battalion; Abu Omar as a training company commander in the East Khan Younis Battalion (and was wounded in an Israeli airstrike several months ago); and Talal al-Arrouqi as a team commander in Hamas’s Nuseirat Battalion.

The military released the documents it said showed personnel spreadsheets, lists of training courses, telephone books and salary documents. It said the documents “unequivocally prove” that the journalists functioned as members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s respective military wings.

“These documents are proof of the involvement of Hamas terrorists in the Qatari media network, Al-Jazeera,” the IDF said. It added that the named journalists are “spearheading” the spread of Hamas propaganda on Al Jazeera, especially in the northern Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera’s interference in other nations and its terror links

Formed in 1996, the Al Jazeera Media Network is a private-media conglomerate headquartered at Doha. The network is funded by the government of Qatar. The public funding from the Qatar government has raised questions whether the organization should be considered a public broadcaster or in fact is a form of state media.

The network has often been seen by foreign governments as a tool of the Qatar state to push its agenda and target other nations. During the Qatar diplomatic crisis from 2017-21, several Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain, severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a blockade. One of their demands was the closure of Al Jazeera due to its skewed coverage. Israel too has also long accused Al Jazeera of being a Hamas mouthpiece and over time has ordered the network to shut down its operations in the country for security reasons, raiding its offices and confiscating their equipment.

In April 2024, the Israeli government passed an emergency law to take the network off the air and block its broadcasts for violating national security. Courts have upheld the legislation, citing confidential information. In June, an Israeli court found that there is a direct and causal connection between individuals who have carried out terror attacks inside Israel and the consumption of Al Jazeera content. It also determined that there was a “close connection” between Al Jazeera and Hamas, that some Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza had turned themselves into “assistants and partners” with Hamas, and that some of them had even carried out terror attacks.

Al Jazeera’s meddling in India

A number of Indian media houses, so called journalists and youtubers have found the Qatari owned broadcaster an apt platform to wield their agendas against PM Modi and India. The usual names of Arfa Khanum, Ravish Kumar, Dhruv Rathee, Akash Banarjee, etc are pedaled as all knowing experts, the network calls upon to drive its narratives against India.

Al Jazeera has quite openly backed Islamist agendas in the sub continent, promoting radicals, while giving cover fire to extremists. In a lot of their reports they target India’s democracy, referring to the government as authoritarian. This seems incredibly hypocritical as Al Jazeera is itself funded by the Qatari monarchal Islamic state. Leaders of Hamas, Taliban etc can all be seen in Qatar as Al Jazeera gives them the soft reach they cannot access anywhere else. Al Jazeera also promotes Pakistani agendas against India, driving a narrative war against Hindus around the world. The network has been at the forefront of attacking the construction of Ram Mandir, blaming Hindus for the Delhi riots, attacking the movie Kashmir files, and even rage baiting frenzied mobs against Nupur Sharma.

Al Jazeera has been consistently meddling in the internal affairs of India, trying to influence our election processes, while promoting sectarian tensions to cause violence and clashes. It now comes as no surprise that its own journalists have been listed as terrorists. Though the Qatari network continues to deny all charges it is neither the first nor probably the last time the network’s name will pop up when international terror links are discussed.