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JERUSALEM — A spokesperson for Gaza’s second-largest panic group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), shared wrong accusation connected nan organization’s propaganda strategies and its cynical manipulation of nan media during an interrogation pinch Israel’s subject intelligence agency pursuing his apprehension at Al-Shifa Hospital successful Gaza City past month.
An eight-minute video of nan interrogation of Tariq Salami Otha Abu Shlouf, a spokesperson for PIJ’s governmental bureau, was published by nan Israeli service connected Monday. In nan clip, Shlouf tin beryllium heard detailing how the U.S.-designated panic group uses some Arabic and world media to create a mendacious communicative astir what is happening successful nan Gaza Strip.
He besides said astir really terrorists person wide utilized each of Gaza’s hospitals and galore of its ambulances while battling Israeli forces during nan six-month war.
In 1 admission, nan spokesperson said an detonation successful 1 of Gaza's main hospitals early connected successful nan fighting was caused by a misfired PIJ rocket, not by Israel, arsenic galore world outlets rushed to report.
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Ambulances carrying victims of Israeli strikes crowd nan entranceway to nan emergency ward of nan Al-Shifa Hospital successful Gaza City Oct. 15, 2023. (Dawood Nemer/AFP via Getty Images)
Shlouf said nan PIJ’s activity "fabricated nan communicative astir an Israeli onslaught connected nan hospital" successful an effort to "erase" nan group’s nonstop engagement successful nan incident, which killed much than 100 people, according to U.S. intelligence agencies.
"It is existent that nan communicative is false, but we wanted to beforehand it," nan spokesperson said, describing really nan panic group’s connection section made decisions based connected "certain interests" and "to leverage a definite narrative."
"We relied connected nan stories successful nan world press," Shlouf told nan interrogators.
"Most world media will undoubtedly not moreover mention nan revelations of this Islamic Jihad spokesperson successful their reporting," Simon Plosker, editorial head at HonestReporting, an Israeli statement that monitors sum of Israel successful nan world press, told Fox News Digital.
"If they did mention it, past they would person to call into mobility their full sum of nan conflict, which would highlight really nan overseas property has either been manipulated aliases moreover willingly participated successful a blase terrorist propaganda cognition astatine Israel’s expense."
Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants return portion successful a rally to observe nan shooting attacks successful Israel successful Khan Younis successful nan confederate Gaza Strip April 8, 2022. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Terrorists affiliated pinch Palestinian Islamic Jihad joined nan thousands of Hamas terrorists who infiltrated confederate Israel Oct. 7, participating successful nan wide massacre of immoderate 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and successful nan kidnapping of different 250.
The wide panic attack, which some Hamas and PIJ terrorists documented pinch GoPros and their cellphones, sparked a warfare pinch Israel.
Since nan commencement of nan war, nan panic groups person operated successful tandem to distort nan images coming retired of Gaza and blasted nan documented suffering of much than 2 cardinal civilians only connected Israel, Shlouf told Israeli interrogators.
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He admitted that nan PIJ’s extremity was to deflect attraction of Palestinian civilians suffering from nan dire surviving conditions caused by nan ongoing warfare it helped to ignite. And nan group utilized modular talking points, including telling journalists, "It's our correct to live," "we want nan business to return to normal," and "we want our children to unrecorded for illustration immoderate different children successful nan world."
Anadolu Agency's photojournalist Muhammed Dahlan holds his damaged camera aft it was changeable pinch a rubber slug by Israeli soldiers during protests adjacent nan Gaza-Israel separator successful Gaza City, Gaza, Oct. 18, 2019. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Shlouf besides described really apical PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah was successful regular interaction pinch nan organization’s connection department, which besides worked intimately pinch its counterparts successful Hamas to carve nan desired narrative. He confessed that PIJ’s connection squad checked complete journalist’s stories anterior to their publication. If they did not fresh nan group’s desired narrative, past they would forestall them from going out.
"So, if it’s not to your liking, it doesn’t get published?" nan interrogator asked Shlouf.
"Of people not, because nan journalist needs america for much interviews," he responded.
"This is hardly surprising, for years we have observed really Islamist panic groups usage civilian infrastructure to enlistee terrorists into their ranks, beforehand coercion and motorboat attacks," Khaled Hassan, a governmental consequence and intelligence expert pinch complete 13 years of acquisition moving successful nan Middle East, told Fox News Digital.
Smoke rises during an Israeli onslaught successful nan vicinity of nan Al-Shifa Hospital successful Gaza City March 28, 2024, amid nan ongoing conflict betwixt Israel and nan Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
He said that, consequently, successful Egypt, Saudi Arabia and galore majority-Muslim countries, "mosques and hospitals affiliated pinch the Muslim Brotherhood and different Islamist panic groups are intimately monitored 24/7, 365 days a year."
"Moreover, their modus operandi besides fundamentally relies connected creating nan belief that they are nan victims of oppression and tyranny," said Hassan. "For that purpose, nan sidesplitting of their ain and civilians mostly is to them an purpose that serves a greater purpose.
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"Western governments mostly place these wide recognized facts erstwhile dealing pinch Israel’s warfare connected Hamas," he added. "They empower and embolden terrorists," making it a successful strategy.
Israeli Canadian writer Matti Friedman, who antecedently worked arsenic a analogous for The Associated Press successful Jerusalem, said that overmuch of the mainstream property was intelligibly "telling a communicative from Gaza based connected accusation that isn’t conscionable incorrect but is propaganda."
Tayseer Jabari speaks to supporters of Islamic Jihad during a ceremonial successful Gaza City, Gaza, Nov 12, 2021. (Majdi Fathi/TPS)
"Groups for illustration Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad cognize precisely what they’re doing — causing utmost harm to innocents by exploiting civilian cover, past blaming Israel for it and utilizing nan resulting world outrage to necktie Israel’s hands," Friedman, who explored nan world media’s bias connected Israel in an explosive 2014 column.
"This interrogation gives america a glimpse of this system, but nan existent answers to nan mobility of media malfeasance dishonesty pinch nan Western editors, journalists and NGOs who’ve been playing on for years," he said.
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International media covering nan warfare successful Gaza person been highly captious of Israel, particularly complete its refusal to let journalists to participate Gaza independently to screen nan war. Instead, astir of nan overseas property has relied connected nan reports of section Palestinian journalists, immoderate of whom person been accused of being complicit successful Hamas’ propaganda instrumentality moreover arsenic they kick that Israel has purposely targeted them.
On Monday, nan Foreign Press Association (FPA), a nonprofit statement representing journalists from world news organizations reporting from Israel, nan West Bank and nan Gaza Strip, released a connection criticizing Israel’s argumentation and pointing retired nan "unprecedented threats and harm" faced by Palestinian journalists wrong Gaza who are "courageously covering nan story."
Rockets are fired toward Israel from nan Gaza Strip, arsenic seen from confederate Israel Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
"The determination whether to beryllium connected nan crushed successful Gaza should beryllium up to each individual world media outlet," nan connection said. "The broad prohibition has constricted nan world’s expertise to witnesser nan existent costs of nan warfare to each sides."
Lahav Harkov, a seasoned journalist, told Fox News integer that while she agreed Israel should let overseas journalists to study from inside Gaza, "that doesn't mean journalists should shirk nan work to see their sources' motivations and verify nan facts."
"It's been evident for good complete a decade that Gaza is nan spot wherever journalistic morals spell to die," she said. "In 2014, you had journalists reporting connected Hamas utilizing nan Shifa Hospital for its violent operations and past backtracking because Hamas threatened them."
She said nan business had only go worse complete nan past six months, pinch awesome media organizations defending "photojournalists who rode on pinch terrorists who committed nan Oct. 7 massacre."
Palestinian photographers return screen from tear state fired by Israeli information forces during a protestation successful nan confederate Gaza Strip Aug. 25, 2021. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Harkov besides noted how reporters were treating nan spokespeople for Palestinian Islamic Jihad arsenic "credible sources."
"The impervious is successful nan benignant of reporting they are doing," she said, highlighting nan Al-Ahli Hospital onslaught successful which nan PIJ spokesperson "spoon-fed them the message" that it was Israel, when, "in reality, it was a PIJ rocket that had misfired."
Ruth Marks Eglash is a veteran journalist based successful Jerusalem, Israel. She reports and covers nan Middle East and Europe. Originally from nan U.K, she has besides freelanced for numerous news outlets. Ruth tin beryllium followed connected Twitter @reglash
