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JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday it had killed Al Jazeera journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul in an airstrike in Gaza, saying he was a Hamas operative who had taken part in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, without offering proof for the assertion.
Al Jazeera dismissed what it said were "baseless allegations" which it said were an attempt to justify the deliberate killing of its journalists.
"The network condemns the accusations against its correspondent Ismail Al-Ghoul, without providing any proof, documentation or video," it said in a statement, adding that it reserved the right to take legal action against those responsible.
The Qatari broadcaster said on Wednesday that Al-Ghoul and cameraman Ramy El Rify were killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza City while on an assignment to film near the house of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas chief killed in Iran earlier on the same day.
The Israeli military said Al-Ghoul was a member of the elite Nukhba unit who took part in the Oct. 7 attack and instructed Hamas operatives on how to record operations. It said he was involved in recording and publicizing attacks on Israeli troops.
"His activities in the field were a vital part of Hamas' military activity," the Israeli military said in a statement.
Al Jazeera said Al-Ghoul had worked for the network since November 2023 and his only profession was as a journalist.
It said he had been arrested and detained at Al-Shifa Hospital in the northern part of the Gaza Strip when it was taken by Israeli forces in March before being released, which it said "debunks and refutes their false claim of his affiliation with any organization."
The Israeli government has banned Al-Jazeera from operating in Israel, accusing it of posing a threat to national security.
Al Jazeera, which has been heavily critical of Israel's campaign in Gaza, has denied inciting violence.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the deaths of the two Al Jazeera crew raised to 165 the number of Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli fire since Oct 7.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Jon Boyle)
