Hamas operative Muhammad Ibrahim Hamada was eulogized along with a few other terrorists by Qatari state media outlet Al Jazeera in April 2024 as both a journalist and a Hamas spokesman, highlighting not only the blur between the two roles in Gaza, but also how Al Jazeera has served as a platform for jihadist apologia.
Hamada, killed in November 2023, was described in a Hamas martyr poster as a West Bank commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Al Jazeera was aware of Hamada’s background when it published two articles under his byline. An author page on the Al Jazeera website described him as a prisoner that had been released as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit ransom deal.
Al Jazeera then featured him in a 2024 social media post showcasing 15 Jerusalem-born Gazans who died during the October 7 War, which included 1986 Western Wall attackers Abdul Nasser Daoud Mustafa Al-Halisi and Tariq Daoud Mustafa Al-Halisi.
Hamada is hardly the first Hamas official to be platformed by Al Jazeera. Former Gazan Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Madhoun was a Hamas official and published 33 articles on the Qatari website from 2018 until 2025, the latest a hagiography for Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida.
Hamas political bureau member and media office head Izzat Al-Rashq published eight articles on Al Jazeera between 2013 and 2025.
During the October 7 War, 16 slain Al Jazeera-affiliated journalists were found to have proven or alleged terrorist ties. This included two that had official martyr posters issued for them, and two who were indicated to be jihadists through open source research. Three also worked for terrorist controlled propaganda outlets, and nine were identified by the IDF.
Al Jazeera is not a normal news service as a state news outlet, but it is also abnormal in the manner in which it platforms terrorists. In many of the countries in which Al Jazeera operates, material support for Hamas would be considered a crime, yet authorities seem uninterested in whether and how many times that line has been crossed.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
