Files seized by Israel and released by the Israel Defense Forces during the weekend confirmed that Al Jazeera reporter Ismail al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas.
Al-Ghoul, 27, was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with Al Jazeera cameraman Ramy El-Rify on Wednesday.
The file, dated 2021 and containing information about thousands of other Hamas terrorists, identified al-Ghoul as an engineer in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade. According to the IDF, he went on to become a member of the terror group’s elite Nukhba force and participated in the October 7 attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border
The army said al-Ghoul also instructed terrorists how to film and share video footage of attacks on Israeli soldiers.
“Despite the deceitful attempts by Hamas and Al Jazeera to portray Al-Ghoul as a decent journalist, Al-Ghoul was an active Hamas terrorist,” said the IDF.
The document’s release comes against the backdrop of a recent court ruling upholding the state’s ban on the Qatari network.
The Tel Aviv District Court on July 26 accepted the state’s request to ban the Qatari network, saying its broadcasts were “a real violation of state security.”
The ruling said there was sufficient evidence that Al Jazeera’s broadcasts incited terror attacks, including a deadly stabbing attack in Beer-Sheva in March and several others in Jerusalem.
The ruling also cited Al Jazeera’s live feed broadcast from Gaza and an instructional video the network aired explaining how to use a proximity charge to damage a tank.
“This is, therefore, a real danger to the state’s security, although it doesn’t necessarily imply an intent to cause harm on the part of the channel,” the ruling said.
Israel shut down Al Jazeera’s news operations on May 5, revoking the network’s press credentials, confiscating transmitters and blocking its websites. The shutdown is not permanent but is subject to renewal every 45 days. The Knesset is currently advancing legislation that would extend the ban to renewable 90-day intervals.
Efforts to ban Al Jazeera gained momentum in February after reporter Mohamed Washah was exposed as a Hamas commander. Soldiers recovered his laptop in northern Gaza and discovered he played a prominent role in the terror group’s anti-armor missile systems. In October, Al Jazeera was accused of endangering Israeli soldiers by exposing details of where forces were assembling, prompting the Cabinet to approve emergency regulations to temporarily shut down Al Jazeera operations in Israel.
While that move received across-the-board support from the security and diplomatic establishment, it was never implemented as Qatar emerged as a mediator between Israel and Hamas for a hostage swap.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 115 remaining hostages, 39 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
