After the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel established a special military unit called the “Legitimization Cell” to identify and smear journalists in Gaza, as documented by investigations in Israel’s Local Call and +972 Magazine. The most common tactic has been to identify a journalist as an undercover Hamas operative, which is in effect a death sentence in a Gaza combat zone. Al Jazeera has published a list of 270 journalists killed in Gaza since the start of the war, and many were first targeted and smeared by the Legitimization Cell.
The mission of the Legitimization Cell is ultimately to justify Israel’s assault on Gaza, blunt any world outrage, and give the Israeli military the freedom to act with impunity. The motivation of this military unit is not national security, but public relations. Their driving force is their anger that these journalists have tarnished Israel’s image on the world stage. Members of the unit seek out any possible link, real or imagined, to connect a journalist to Hamas. This unit is directed by Israeli government officials which has extended the battlefield into the realm of public diplomacy.
There has been a clear pattern that when criticism intensified in the world media on a particular issue against Israel, the Legitimization Cell has been required to change the narrative even if it meant declassifying intelligence to accomplish the goal. This often created tension with the notorious Unit 8200 of Israel’s military intelligence, which objected to declassifying intelligence for something as trivial as world public opinion. However, Israeli leaders needed the propaganda to assure that world arms shipments and international consent would remain unhindered.
On Aug. 10, the most widely recognized journalist in Gaza, Anas Al-Sharif, was killed along with three colleagues in a tent outside the entrance to the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The Israeli military openly admits that the Al Jazeera correspondent was not killed by accident but was targeted. Two months earlier the Committee To Protect Journalists warned that Israel was actively working to discredit Al-Sharif in preparation for an “assassination.” The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee had released three videos accusing Al-Sharif of “propaganda” and of participating in “Hamas’ false starvation campaign.” However, some insist that Al-Sharif has been highly visible and Israel could have killed him at any time. Their suspicion is that Israel chose to kill Al-Sharif now as part of a media blackout before the anticipated military assault on Gaza City.
