Israel’s vaunted intelligence agency Mossad has accused correspondents of the Qatari state-run cable news outlet Al Jazeera of revealing Israeli troop positions to Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, according to a report.
The Mossad has told policymakers in the Israeli government that it supports a proposal to bar the channel’s personnel from the country, according to a report by Israel’s state-run Kan media agency.
The spy agency has alleged that Al Jazeera broadcasts images showing Israeli forces at various points of entry along the Gaza Strip border.
Israeli troops are massing along the frontier with Gaza in preparation for what is expected to be a ground operation aimed at rooting out Hamas following the terrorist group’s surprise assault last Saturday which claimed the lives of more than 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene his cabinet on Monday evening, during which government ministers are expected to vote in favor of banning Al Jazeera from the country.
Netanyahu’s top defense chiefs, including the army’s chief of staff as well as the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, reportedly favor shutting down the network’s operations in Israel.
The Post has sought comment from Al Jazeera.
The Qatar-based network gave a statement to Kan denying the Israeli claims it was aiding Hamas.
“Israel is accusing us of being something that we are not,” the network said in a statement to Kan.
“Since the start of the war, we have broadcast all of the press conferences featuring Netanyahu, Gallant, and the Israeli army chief of staff,” a spokesperson for the network told Kan.
The network insists that the images it broadcasts to its viewers are no different than those shown by Israeli television networks.
“We have never defied the Israeli military censor [which restricts news stories that pose a security threat,” the network said.
“We are always careful to be in constant communication with the [Israeli] army,” the network stated.
Israel’s communications minister said on Sunday he was seeking a possible closure of Al Jazeera’s local bureau.
“This is a station that incites, this is a station that films troops in assembly areas (outside Gaza) … that incites against the citizens of Israel – a propaganda mouthpiece,” ShlomaoKarhi told Israel’s Army Radio.
“It is unconscionable that Hamas spokespeople’s message goes through this station,” he said, adding: “I hope we will finish with this today.”
It was not clear if the latter statement referred to a cabinet discussion or implementation of a closure.
Al Jazeera said last week that two of its journalists were wounded by what Lebanese officials described as an Israeli artillery shell that landed in the south of the country.
A Reuters journalist, Issam Abdallah, was killed in the strike. Israel said its military fired on positions across the Lebanese border in order to prevent suspected Hezbollah terrorists from crossing into the country.
With Post Wires
