Hamas has released a video in which a spokeswoman admits that the terror group ejected from Gaza reporters who filmed missile launches.
The interview was with Isra Al-Mudallal, head of foreign relations in the Hamas Information Ministry, who admitted to Mayadeen TV that journalists who filmed the places from where missiles were launched were removed from the Gaza Strip.
Israel and Hamas are in a cease-fire right now, while negotiators try to reach the terms of a longer agreement that would prevent more rockets raining on Israel, and that nation's defensive response.
"The security agencies would go and have a chat with these people," Al-Mudallal said in the report documented by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
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According to MEMRI, an interviewer asked Al-Mudallal, "How did you manage to maintain contact with the foreign journalists, and how did you convey your point of view to them?"
She responded, "Since the beginning of the aggression against the Gaza Strip, a state of emergency was declared at the border crossings, especially at the Beit Hanoun Crossing, also known as the Erez Crossing, and journalists were allowed in without any bureaucratic procedures, except for registration to guarantee their safety.
"Our problem was that [we didn't know] who was entering the Gaza Strip. Who were they? Most of them were freelancers, and the others were from news agencies.
"Fewer journalists entered the Gaza Strip during this war than in the previous rounds, in 2008 and 2012. Therefore, the coverage by foreign journalists in the Gaza Strip was insignificant compared to their coverage within the Israeli occupation [i.e., Israel]. Moreover, the journalists who entered Gaza were fixated on the notion of peace and on the Israeli narrative."
She continued, "So when they were conducting interviews, or when they went on location to report, they would focus on filming the places from where missiles were launched. Thus, they were collaborating with the occupation.
"These journalists were deported from the Gaza Strip. The security agencies would go and have a chat with these people. They would give them some time to change their message, one way or another."
She said, "The Israeli missiles do not distinguish between fighters, civilians, or children. We suffered from this problem very much. Some of the journalists who entered the Gaza Strip were under security surveillance. Even under these difficult circumstances, we managed to reach them, and tell them that what they were doing was anything but professional journalism and that it was immoral."
WND reported just days earlier on another Hamas video in which claims were made that the group has been building missiles to restock the cache that was launched against Israel.
"Your defeatist leadership claimed to have destroyed our rocket capability," said a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in remarks directed at Israel. "However, despite the aggression, our production continues – from the workshop to the battlefield."
The fight between Israel and Hamas began about six weeks ago when Israel responded to the regular rocket attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians.
The Hamas boasts were reported by Al-Aqsa TV, the Hamas channel.
The violence is the worst since in Gaza was a three-week-long war in 2008-2009.