The Israeli military on Wednesday accused six Palestinian journalists with Al Jazeera of involvement with Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, claims that the Qatari news network “vehemently condemns.”
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) published documents Wednesday which it said it had found in Gaza that proved the men were militarily affiliated with the groups. CBC News was not able to independently verify the files’ authenticity.
In an online statement Wednesday, Al Jazeera called the allegations “baseless,” and said the IDF is instead trying to silence the few remaining journalists in the war-torn enclave.
“Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces’ portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence.”
It called on the international community to intervene and protect its journalists.
The network is one of a handful still broadcasting daily from the besieged enclave, in part because the Israeli military has largely banned foreign journalists from Gaza, …