Al Jazeera reporter on Hamas payroll killed in Israeli airstrike
Al Jazeera reporter Hossam Shabat, who was also a Hamas sniper, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, the Qatari network reported on Monday.
Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau office on June 13, 2017. Photo by Hillel Maeir/TPS
There has been no official statement from Israel. Meanwhile, Gaza reports said, Mohammed Mansour, who worked for Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Falstin Al-Yom channel was killed in a separate airstrike.
Shabat was one of six Al Jazeera reporters who were identified as members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in October. Their names were found in captured personnel tables, lists of terrorist training courses, phone books and salary documents that Israeli troops found in Gaza.
The files identified Shabat as a sniper in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion.
The other five journalists were identified as Anas Al-Sharif, Ala’ Salama, Ashraf al Sarraj, Ismail Abu Amr, and Talal al-Arrouqi.
Other files seized in Gaza showed how Al Jazeera collaborated with Hamas, taking directions for covering specific incidents and establishing a secure hotline enabling the terror group to directly communicate with Al Jazeera during emergencies.
Israel moved to shut down Al-Jazeera’s operations in May, revoking the network’s press credentials, confiscating transmitters and blocking its websites. The shutdown is not permanent but is subject to renewal every 90 days.
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 that he played a prominent role in the terror group’s anti-armor missile systems.
Files seized and released by the IDF in August also confirmed that Al Jazeera reporter Ismail al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas. The file, dated 2021 and containing information about thousands of other Hamas terrorists, identified him as an engineer in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade.
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.
The Tel Aviv District Court in July accepted the state’s request to ban the Qatari network, saying its broadcasts were “a real violation of state security.”
At least 1,180 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 59 remaining hostages, 36 are believed to be dead.
