Daijiworld Media Network – Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Aug 17: Israel’s military set up a secretive “legitimisation cell” tasked with identifying journalists it could portray as undercover Hamas operatives to justify their targeting and deflect criticism over killings of media workers, according to a report by Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine.

The unit was reportedly created after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, with the objective of bolstering Israel’s global image and shoring up diplomatic and military backing from key allies. Three intelligence sources told the magazine that the military increasingly viewed media as an extension of the battlefield, allowing the release of declassified intelligence to strengthen Israel’s hasbara (propaganda) efforts.

“There was this phrase, ‘that’s good for legitimacy,’” one source said. “The goal was simply to find as much material as possible to serve hasbara efforts.” Personnel across the intelligence apparatus were instructed to flag any material that could assist Israel in the “information war,” the sources added.

Several “research teams” were reportedly formed within Israeli military intelligence in recent years to focus on “exposing Hamas’ lies.” Their mandate allegedly included “discrediting” journalists covering the Gaza war, particularly those working for Al Jazeera, by branding them Hamas affiliates.

The revelations come amid growing scrutiny of Israel’s targeting of media workers. On August 10, six journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City. The military admitted the attack was directed at al-Sharif, claiming he was a Hamas operative “posing as a journalist.”

Al-Sharif had previously denied the allegations, with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warning in July 2024 that he was being targeted in an Israeli “smear campaign” that could be a precursor to his assassination.

One intelligence source told +972 that if the global press focused on Israel killing journalists, “there’s immediately a push to find one journalist who might not be so innocent, as if that somehow makes killing the other 20 acceptable.”

Two intelligence sources further alleged that in at least one instance since the Gaza war began, the legitimisation unit distorted intelligence to falsely present a journalist as part of Hamas’s military wing.