IDF Says Al-Jazeera 'Journalist' Was Hamas Terrorist Holding 3 Abductees In Home, Outlet Denies His Employment

A picture shows a view of the Al Jazeera television network offices in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on May 5, 2024.

The IDF and Shin Bet said on Sunday that three hostages who were freed on Saturday from Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip—Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv—were purportedly being held captive at the home of Al-Jazeera and Palestine Chronicle “journalist” Abdallah Aljamal.

Noa Argamani, a fourth captive, was not being held by Aljamal, despite what was initially reported by a number of outlets, according to the Israel Hayom.

After his home was raided, Aljamal and his father were slain while attempting to hold on to the hostages, the IDF said.

Israel’s Yamam commander, Ch. Insp. Arnon Zmora, was shot and killed by other Hamas members during the raid on Aljamals’ residence. After Zmora passed away in an Israeli hospital upon arrival, the Israeli rescue effort was renamed “Operation Arnon” in his memory.

It appears that Aljamal, a pro-Palestine writer, allegedly kept up his contributions to the websites even while he was incarcerating the hostages.

The IDF posted on X (Twitter), saying: ‘”Journalist” Abdallah Aljamal was a Hamas terrorist holding Almog, Andrey and Shlomi hostage in his family’s home in Nuseirat. No press vest can make him innocent of the crimes he has committed. @AlJazeera what’s this terrorist doing on your website?” 

“Journalist” Abdallah Aljamal was a Hamas terrorist holding Almog, Andrey and Shlomi hostage in his family’s home in Nuseirat.

No press vest can make him innocent of the crimes he has committed.@AlJazeera what’s this terrorist doing on your website? pic.twitter.com/1EM8C7csnw

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 9, 2024

“Abdallah Aljamal was previously a spokesman for the Hamas-run labor ministry in Gaza and has contributed to several news outlets in the past,” The Times of Israel reported.

However, in reaction to the claims, Al-Jazeera released the following statement:

“This man is not from Al-Jazeera, nor did he work for Al-Jazeera at all, nor is he listed as working for Al-Jazeera either now or in the past, and we do not know him, and all the rumors spread are empty of content and not true at all.”

Yet, an above screenshot on X provided by the IDF showed that he was in fact a journalist working for Al-Jazeera. Additionally, his writer profile can be seen on the Palestine Chronicle website as well. Although, some pro-Palestine activists have argued that the Al-Jazeera reporter screenshot was “photoshopped.”

“Abdallah Aljamal is a Gaza-based journalist. He is a contributor for The Palestine Chronicle from the Gaza Strip,” according to the Palestine Chronicle outlet.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet unanimously voted to shut down Qatari television network Al-Jazeera’s operations in Israel amid rising tensions with Qatar over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This follows Israel’s parliament recently passing a law permitting the temporary closure of foreign broadcasters deemed a threat to national security during the ongoing war against Hamas.

Israel accuses Qatar, which provides funding to Hamas, of escalating the war by way of Al-Jazeera‘s reporting because it maintains that the network is friendly and sympathetic to Hamas.

Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera claimed to continue reporting from the area while “denying any bias.”

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