Israel claims injured Al Jazeera reporter was a Hamas member

Israel says Al Jazeera reporter is deputy company commander of Hamas eastern battalion

Jerusalem:

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that an Al Jazeera journalist wounded in a Gaza airstrike was a Hamas member who filmed himself on a kibbutz during the Oct. 7 attack.

The broadcaster reported on Tuesday that Arabic-language journalist Ismail Abu Omar and his cameraman Ahmed Matar were both seriously injured north of Rafah and were taken to hospital for treatment.

But the Israeli military described Omar as “deputy company commander of the eastern battalion of Hamas Khan Younis.”

“Abu Omar even filmed himself at Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre and posted it on social media platforms,” ​​a statement read.

The Qatar-based television network has yet to respond to the latest accusations.

But on Tuesday, the group criticized the Israeli military for deliberately targeting its employees when reporting on the plight of civilians caught up in its war with Hamas.

The network said the attack was “an outright criminal act that adds to Israel’s ongoing crimes against journalists” and was aimed at preventing journalists from reporting on the war.

Al Jazeera quoted an emergency doctor as saying that Abu Omar’s right leg was blown off in the drone strike, while doctors were working to save his left leg.

Since the outbreak of war on October 7, CPJ has documented the deaths of at least 85 journalists and media workers, 78 of whom were Palestinians.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)