Israel Katz Adds Five Palestinian Media Platforms Linked to Hamas to Terror List

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz added five Palestinian media platforms to a “terror list,” classifying them as terrorist organizations and linking them to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), according to Al-Jazeera Net and The Week.

“Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz classified five Palestinian media platforms as terrorist organizations, arguing that they were linked to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)”

Al-Jazeera Net

Al-Jazeera Net said the Israeli domestic security agency Shin Bet targeted platforms قدس بلس, ميدان القدس, القدس البوصلة, المعراج, and العاصمة, while The Week named the five as Quds Plus, Maydan Al Quds, Al-Quds al-Bawsala, Al-Maaraj and Al-Asima.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Week reported that Shin Bet said the move came after “prolonged intelligence effort,” and that the outlets operated “under the guise of legitimate journalism” while serving as “incitement arms of Hamas.”

Al-Jazeera Net said Shin Bet argued the platforms were “operating under the cover of legitimate journalism while acting as incitement arms for Hamas,” and that they were run by Hamas elements.

Both outlets described the dissemination of content through websites and social media, including Facebook, Telegram, YouTube, Instagram, and X, with Al-Jazeera Net listing those platforms and The Week listing Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Telegram.

Under Israeli law, Al-Jazeera Net said the designation makes the activity associated with these platforms illegal and gives “the occupation forces the authority to act against those who operate or promote their content,” while The Week said the terror designation makes the activities illegal “as per Israeli law.”

The same set of five platforms also appeared in Breakingthenews.net, which said Shin Bet announced that Katz designated “Quds Plus, Maydan Al Quds, Al-Quds al-Bawsala, Al-Maaraj and Al-Asima” as terrorist groups.

The outlets tied the designation to Shin Bet’s assessment that the platforms were “run by Hamas operatives” and followed “directives from Hamas leadership in Gaza, Turkey and other countries,” with The Week and Al-Jazeera Net describing the same core rationale.

Al-Jazeera Net said Shin Bet claimed the outlets “followed directives from the movement's leadership in Gaza and Turkey and other countries,” and that they sought “to incite Palestinians inside Israel and in the West Bank, and to encourage disturbances and nationalist attacks under the pretext of protesting on key issues.”

Breakingthenews.net

The Week similarly said Shin Bet claimed the platforms “operated as incitement arms of Hamas” and that they “allegedly encouraged Arab Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank to resort to nationalist attacks under the guise of protests.”

TRT Français framed the action as a ban on coverage of Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem, saying Israel “banned five Palestinian media outlets covering Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem,” and that the outlets were accused of “incitement to hatred.”

L’Orient-Le Jour added a legal pathway, stating that the 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law No. 5,776 allows the Defense Ministry to designate a group after filing a request with a security service (Shin Bet, the army, Mossad, police) and receiving approval of Israel’s Attorney General.

L’Orient-Le Jour also reported that Channel 12 said the Attorney General confirmed on Sunday that “there is no legal obstacle to classifying the five Palestinian media.”

Across the accounts, the stated intent of the designation was to make the platforms’ activity illegal and to enable Israeli authorities to act against those operating or promoting content, with Al-Jazeera Net describing “the occupation forces” authority and The Week saying Shin Bet would “act decisively” to thwart activities that threaten public security.

While Israeli officials and Shin Bet were described as linking the outlets to Hamas and incitement, L’Orient-Le Jour foregrounded concerns about press freedom and the legal consequences for journalists.

“Middle East – Freedom of the Press Israel adds five Palestinian media to its list of "terrorist organizations" Journalists targeted by such an accusation "risk losing their jobs and having their bank accounts closed," says the NGO MADA”

L'Orient-Le Jour

The article said journalists targeted by such an accusation “risk losing their jobs and having their bank accounts closed,” citing the NGO MADA, and it quoted Shireen al-Khatib, director of the Palestinian Center for Development and Freedom of the Media (MADA), saying, “We are very concerned about the consequences of this decision on press freedom.”

TRT Français reported that the Israeli decree banned Alasima News, M3raj Network, Al-Quds Albawsala Network, Maydan Al-Quds and Plus Quds Network, and it said none of these outlets has offices in East Jerusalem.

TRT Français also included a statement attributed to Alasima News announcing it would suspend its media activities, saying: “Alasima News announced the suspension of all its media activities until further notice.”

The same TRT Français account described a broader Israeli crackdown, saying the measure added to “the long list of Israeli repression and censorship,” and it quoted the channel’s statement that the occupation aimed “at isolating Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa from the rest of the world, monopolizing them and suppressing information about them.”

TRT Français also quoted a slogan from the media indicated it had been forced to cease its activities, adding that its main slogan “has always been to make Jerusalem the center and guide of the Palestinian cause.”

In addition, L’Orient-Le Jour reported that Israel’s right-wing government intensified its crackdown in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and it described the Al-Aqsa Mosque as “the third holiest site in Islam,” while also noting that Jews call it the Temple Mount and Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Al-Jazeera Net placed the latest designations within a longer campaign against Palestinian content and press work, tying it to the period after “the genocidal war against the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.”

The article said “This is not the first move of its kind,” and it described a “fierce war on Palestinian content on social networks in the virtual world,” especially after October 7, 2023.

TRT Français

It reported that in late February, Army Radio said Katz signed a military order classifying “a number of Palestinian electronic media outlets as terrorist,” based on Israeli anti-terrorism law, and that the decision came after a direct recommendation from Shin Bet.

Al-Jazeera Net said Shin Bet claimed Hamas—“especially from Turkey and the Gaza Strip”—tries to ignite tensions in Jerusalem during Ramadan through electronic networks acting as facades for the movement.

The outlet also said that during Ramadan last year the occupation intensified its campaign against those working in the press in Jerusalem, using “the tool of banishment from the Al-Aqsa Mosque” to prevent them from documenting daily abuses carried out by police and settlers in its courtyards.

The Week, meanwhile, described a broader Hamas media strategy and cited a study published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, saying it revealed how Hamas planned and operated its media network as part of its strategy against Israel “even before the October 2023 attack.”

The Week listed objectives including “spreading the Palestinian narrative globally” and intensifying “psychological and media warfare,” and it described tools such as “creation of cartoons and satire pages” and “paid advertisements targeting Israeli audience.”

The reporting diverged in emphasis even when describing the same five platforms and the same Israeli decision.

“Israel has banned five Palestinian media outlets covering Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem, accusing them of 'incitement to hatred'”

TRT Français

Al-Jazeera Net and The Week centered the Israeli security rationale, with Al-Jazeera Net saying Shin Bet argued the outlets were “operating under the cover of legitimate journalism while acting as incitement arms for Hamas,” and The Week stating Shin Bet said the outlets “served as incitement arms of Hamas.”

Al-Jazeera Net

TRT Français framed the move as a ban on media coverage of Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem, stating Israel “banned five Palestinian media outlets covering Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem,” and it tied the accusation to “incitement to hatred” focused on events in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

L’Orient-Le Jour framed the action as a press-freedom and legal-risk issue, quoting Shireen al-Khatib that it raised “very concerned” consequences for press freedom and describing the risk that journalists “risk losing their jobs and having their bank accounts closed.”

Breakingthenews.net presented the same list of platforms and the same Shin Bet claim that the outlets were “linked to Hamas,” while it did not include the press-freedom or legal-mechanism detail found in L’Orient-Le Jour.

The Week added a longer strategic context by describing Hamas’s long-term media strategy and citing the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre study, while Al-Jazeera Net emphasized a campaign against Palestinian content on social networks and described Ramadan-related claims about inciting tensions in Jerusalem.

Even the stated geographic focus differed: TRT Français explicitly tied the ban to occupied East Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Al-Jazeera Net and The Week described incitement aimed at Palestinians inside Israel and in the West Bank.

The sources describe immediate operational fallout and longer-term legal and political implications tied to the designation and related censorship measures.

TRT Français reported that “Following the Israeli order, Alasima News announced the suspension of all its media activities until further notice,” while it said “The four other outlets did not immediately react.”

L’Orient-Le Jour added that OpenSanctions notes the media outlets, journalists, and other associations are designated as “terrorist organizations” by Israel under the 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law No. 5,776, and it said the Defense Ministry can designate after filing a request with a security service and receiving approval of Israel’s Attorney General.

It also reported that Channel 12 said the Attorney General confirmed on Sunday that “there is no legal obstacle to classifying the five Palestinian media,” reinforcing that the designation process had legal clearance.

L’Orient-Le Jour further said that in December 2025, the Knesset voted for an amendment to extend the broadcasting ban on foreign media accused of harming state security until the end of 2027, and it cited another April 2024 legislation targeting al-Jazeera for having “actively participated” in the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack.

Al-Jazeera Net described the designation as part of an ongoing “war on Palestinian content on social networks,” stating that under Israeli law the designation makes associated activity illegal and gives “the occupation forces the authority to act against those who operate or promote their content.”

The Week said Shin Bet would “act decisively” to thwart activities that threaten public security, and it described a broader Hamas media strategy that includes psychological and media warfare, which the Israeli side frames as an ongoing threat.