The Israeli government said Monday that the U.S. should investigate the “Palestine Chronicle” news website, which is officially listed as a charitable organization, after one of its contributors was allegedly found to be holding Israeli hostages.
As Breitbart News reported Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that three of the four hostages who were rescued from Gaza in Saturday’s raid had been held by Abdallah Aljamal, a contributor to the Palestine Chronicle and to Al Jazeera. Aljamal also doubled as a spokesman for a Hamas-run government agency in Gaza.
Aljamal and several members of his family were killed or wounded in the raid in the city of Nuseirat, in central Gaza.
The Palestine Chronicle is an anti-Israel media outlet that is registered as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization with U.S. tax authorities.
In an obituary, the Palestine Chronicle did not deny that Aljamal was connected to Hamas, but cited commentators “online” whom it said had “refuted” claims that he or his family had held Israeli hostages.
Some observers noted that the Palestine Chronicle appeared to be covering up information on its website, including the names of its advisers and board of directors.
In response to a question from Breitbart News during a press briefing, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said that the U.S. should investigate the Palestine Chronicle. He added that the fact (according to Israel) that Aljamal had been holding Israeli hostages “is once again an example of Hamas casting aside any of the laws of decency, mixing terrorism with a charitable organization.”
He added: “These are terrorist organizations. The blinkers should come off many in the international community … Almost everything which happens in Gaza is under Hamas control. That is what an Islamofascist-type terror organization does. They control every facet of Gazan society.”
He said terrorists were “hiding behind … press vests” in Gaza, and noted that when Israel had been accused of attacking journalists, “we’ve often produced the proof that these journalists are terrorist operatives, and this is a prime example.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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