Al Jazeera denies correspondence, IDF brings home four hostages at the cost of 274 Palestinians
The IDF rescued four hostages from Gaza’s Nuseirat camp on June 8, killing over 274 Palestinian civilians in addition to an alleged Al Jazeera journalist named Abdallah Alijamal.
The four rescued Israeli nationals—Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan, and Andrey Kozlov—have since been united with their loved ones back home.
The IDF accused the Qatar-based news outlet Al Jazeera of harboring Hamas operatives as “journalists,” as evident by the rescue of hostages from the house of journalist Abdallah Alijamal. Three of Alijamal’s family members, including his father, Dr. Ahmed, were also killed in the encounter.
The IDF had posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “Journalist” Abdallah Alijamal 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.
“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
Al Jazeera’s now-closed Jerusalem bureau’s chief, Walid Omary, has however refuted the IDF’s allegations, saying, “This man is not from Al Jazeera, and he did not work for Al Jazeera at all, and he is not listed as working for Al Jazeera neither now nor in the past. We do not know him, and all the rumors that have been spread are empty of content and not true at all.”
Independent sources, however, soon pointed out that the channel had listed Alijamal for at least one article written back in 2019. He was also listed as a “freelance journalist” on the news outlet, sparking outrage over Al-Jazeera’s sheltering of alleged Hamas operatives in its ranks.
Reports on the rescue missions collateral damage varied, but the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza estimated 274 civilians were killed and 698 injured in the Nuseirat refugee camp during the IDF’s so-called rescue mission.
Video footage being shared by pro-Israeli social media users showed IDF soldiers storming into a building where two Israeli nationals were being held captive. The men were then escorted out of the building amid the sounds of gunfire.
NOT A MOVIE !
The IDF HEROES, fighting to rescue the hostages ! 💪🇮🇱
Body camera @IDF pic.twitter.com/Qx6PAMRBpS
— miha schwartzenberg (@mihaschw) June 10, 2024
IDF has denied the casualties, however, estimating less than “100” casualties during its rescue into the Nuseirat refugee camp. The operation was carried out around 8 in the morning, resulting in the morning rush of civilians being caught in the crossfire of Hamas operatives embedded in the crowd, an IDF spokesperson said on the condition of anonymity to U.S.-based news organization Fox News.
Deceased journalist advocated for Palestinian rights in the Gaza Strip
Although Al-Jazeera had initially denied any association of the deceased journalist Abdallah Alijamal with the channel, a senior journalist on Al-Jazeera’s English outlet, Imran Khan wrote on Instagram, “The individual in question who was killed in the raid along with his family was, at one point, a freelance journalist. He has never worked for Al-Jazeera in Arabic or English.”
Abdallah Aljamal, Palestine Chronicle contributor from Gaza, was one of the 210 Palestinians killed in the Nuseirat massacre on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/kkD3Y4fbY3
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 9, 2024
Reports later emerged that Alijamal worked for the Palestine Chronicle, which issued an article on June 9 mourning the death of the journalist in addition to his father, Dr. Ahmed Alijamal, who was one of the top contributors to human rights advocacy in occupied Gaza.
The outlet also stated that the deceased journalist was a fervent advocate of Palestinian rights in the Gaza Strip and had also worked tirelessly to provide humanitarian relief in the region since the beginning of Israel’s heinous genocidal war in Gaza.
However, Western media organizations supported Israel’s high collateral rescue in the Nuseirat refugee camp on Saturday, stating the IDF has very few options as Hamas insurgents have integrated into civilian populations, using the latter as human shields.
A detailed report published in May by the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) titled “Al-Jazeera Arabic” highlighted several active and ex-Hamas operatives working as journalists on the Gaza front, fueling rumors about the Doha-based news organizations involvement in furthering Islamic ideology across the globe.
World narratives divided over the IDF’s bloody rescue mission
The news of the alleged Al-Jazeera journalist’s death was first reported by an EuroMeds activist named Ramy Abdul, who had given a detailed description of the IDF’s attack on Alijamal’s multi-story family residence as well as encounters of the family member’s killings by the IDF.
في إطار محاولة تبرير إعدام مواطنين من عائلة الجمل في النصيرات تحاول مصادر إسرائيلية وبعض داعمي الاحتلال الإسرائيلي تبرير الجريمة بالقول أن الأسيرة أرغماني ربما كانت تتواجد لدى العائلة.
لقد وثقنا مبدئياً عمليات قتل ميداني وإعدام في 7 منازل على الأقل بينها منزل الطبيب المسن أحمد… pic.twitter.com/FOyBC7jOfn— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) June 9, 2024
Several Twitter users, however, criticized the activist for omitting the fact that they were holding Israeli nationals in their residence who were captured during the deadly October 7 attacks by Hamas last year.
Abdallah Aljamal is an Al-Jazeera reporter and a Hamas terrorist who held three Israeli civilians hostage in his home.
This has now been confirmed.
Unfortunately, many Gaza civilians have been taking an active role in terror. Thousands that participated in the October 7th…
— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) June 9, 2024
Reports of Hamas operatives posing as “journalists” for credible world-media outlets like Al-Jazeera have seriously questioned the unbiased ideology of the press in conflict zones.
With over seven Israeli civilians allegedly still alive and held hostage in Gaza, according to IDF sources, attempts at a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel have come to a standstill as of late.
