The Israeli Army accused on Wednesday six journalists in Gaza of the Qatari network Al Jazeera, banned in Israel since last April, of being “agents of the military wing” of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, assuring that it has found documents in the enclave that would supposedly prove its relationship with the Palestinian militias.

“The security forces have revealed intelligence information and numerous documents found in the Gaza Strip that confirm the military affiliation of six journalists from Al Jazeera in Gaza with the terrorist organizations of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad,” the Army said in a statement, in which it quotes the journalists with names and surnames.

In the note, they indicate that the documents found on these six Gaza journalists include “staffing boards, lists of training courses for terrorists, telephone directories and terrorist salary documents.”

For Israel, these documents “constitute unequivocal proof that these individuals act as military agents of terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip” and are speakers of “pro-Hamas propaganda” especially in the northern Strip through Al Jazeera.

The Islamist organization Hamas, which governs in Gaza, responded with a statement in which it accused Israel of trying to “morally murder” and “demonize” Palestinian journalists with this type of ads, and called its accusation a “false narrative”.

Hamas assured that the Hebrew State has used lists of injured to present them as lists of members of the organization, as well as that it has manipulated “general data that are not important or have any relationship” with the organization.

Israel intensifies its attacks in Gaza

Israel’s accusations against Al Jazeera journalists come after Israeli troops have intensified their offensive in the northern Strip in the last three weeks, causing more than 700 deaths, thousands of wounded trapped and tens of thousands of displaced, according to UN data.

Yesterday, Al Jazeera denounced that Israel is preventing the “urgent medical evacuation” of two of its journalists who were seriously injured in Israeli attacks in the Strip two weeks ago.

The Qatari chain has been banned in Israel since last April, when the Government accused the chain of being “a damage to national security.”

Israel invades Al Jazeera’s office in the West Bank

On September 22, Israel also ordered the closure of the Qatari office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, after breaking into the headquarters with soldiers where they seized and destroyed equipment.

During the office raid, the soldiers tore off a poster from journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was murdered by an Israeli soldier two years ago while covering a military raid in the occupied West Bank.

After the closure of the Ramalah office, the non-governmental organization Amnesty International accused the Israeli authorities of “another blatant attack on the right to freedom of expression” and of giving a “destroting blow” to press freedom.

Al Jazeera is one of the channels with the largest deployment and journalists in the Strip, where the Israeli Government does not allow access to the international press.

The head of Operations of the second brigade of the Israeli Army, Ariye Hominer, said on Monday that the troops have found numerous tunnels and arsenal of the Shiite group Hezbula near positions of the UNFI, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, during its operations in the south of the country.

“It is surprising that, despite the number of bases of the UN forces, we have found so much infrastructure of Hizbulah: tunnels, arsenal… in the noses of the blue helmets. How is it possible?” Hominer criticized in a visit to the troops in the Israeli town of Shlomi, adjacent to the border with Lebanon.

Shlomi is one of the cities in Israeli Galilee that have become closed military zones in which troops are preparing for their operations in Lebanese territory since the Hebrew State invaded the south of the neighboring country on October 1.

There, the military spokesman defends the good communication of the Israeli Army with UNFINUL, after being questioned by the various incidents between the Hebrew troops against positions of this UN mission that so far leave at least five injured blue helmets.

However, the military assures that “the UN mandate is not doing the work it should be doing” in Lebanon.

Attacks on Lebanon

Hominer also said that Israel will not cease its attacks on Lebanon – which, in addition to the land invasion, consist of a bombing campaign that began on September 23 – until it fulfills the objective of returning displaced Israelis from nearby communities to the border of the neighboring country.

“I hope it’s soon, but it doesn’t limit our time or space,” he said.

Throughout the day, the armed forces have detected the launch of more than 110 rockets from Lebanon aimed at Israel, although most have been intercepted or have fallen in open spaces.

“A drone approaching Israeli territory from Lebanon was intercepted by the Air Force” before entering the country, a military statement was collected around 15.00 local time (12.00 GMT), this being the fifth unidentified aerial vehicle shot down by the armed forces today.

Some 60,000 Israelis were displaced from northern Israel when the exchange of fire between the Army and Hezbullah began on October 8 last year, in a gesture of solidarity of the Shiite group with the Palestinians after the start of the war in Gaza.

On the other hand, more than 1.2 million Lebanese have had to move through Israeli bombings and the deaths from these attacks in more than a year exceed 2,500, most of them since Israel intensified its offensive in September.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, asked on Wednesday from Saudi Arabia to “end the war in Gaza and release all the hostages,” while also addressing with the Saudi authorities the reconstruction of the punished Palestinian enclave once the conflict ends.

The head of US diplomacy stressed with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, “the importance of ending the war in Gaza and releasing all hostages,” according to a statement issued by the US Department of State at the end of the meeting held between the two politicians in Riyadh.

For its part, the official Saudi news agency SPA limited itself to reporting that the meeting “the evolution of regional events was analyzed, especially the situation in Gaza and Lebanon,” in addition to the joint efforts that are being made to stop the escalation in the Middle East.

According to the US department, Blinken and Bin Farhan also “continued talks on how to establish security, governance and reconstruction in the post-conflict period” in the Gaza Strip, completely devastated after more than a year of war, which has caused the death of about 43,000 Palestinians.

A “diplomatic solution” in Lebanon

On the other hand, they stressed the need for “a diplomatic solution in Lebanon,” where Israel began a massive bombing campaign on September 23 and, a week later, began a land invasion in the south of the Mediterranean country that has been condemned by much of the international community.

Subsequently, Blinken met with the Saudi crown prince, Mohamed bin Salman, with whom he addressed “the efforts made to stop military operations and face the humanitarian and security repercussions” of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, according to a statement from Saudi Foreign Affairs.

In a previous phone call with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Blinken addressed ways to implement UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the war that Israel and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbula fought in 2006.

Eleventh Middle East tour

The head of US diplomacy landed this Wednesday in Saudi Arabia as part of his eleventh tour of the Middle East since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, on October 7, 2023, although so far his visits to the countries of the region have not given tangible results for the resolution of the conflict and prevent its expansion in the area.

Yesterday, Blinken highlighted in Israel the need to take advantage of the death last week in a confrontation in southern Gaza by Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, to reach an agreement that allows the release of the hostages.

In addition to Israel and Saudi Arabia, Blinken will travel to Qatar and the United Kingdom until October 25 to “analyze the importance of ending the war in Gaza” and plan “the post-conflict period,” as well as to reach a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon, according to the US Department of State.