In short: not a lot.
Various western news organizations have reported that Abdallah Aljamal died in the latest Israeli attack on Gaza. Many have led with inaccurate inflammatory headlines and lede paragraphs.
What do we know versus what has been alleged?
First, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed on Twitter that there were three hostages in his home and that he was killed.
“Journalist” Abdallah Aljamal was a Hamas terrorist holding Almog, Andrey and Shlomi hostage in his family’s home in Nuseirat.
The IDF also claimed that Aljamal worked for Al Jazeera.
Despite the tweet and resulting inflammatory headlines (FOX, Hindustan Times, NY Post), Aljamal was not an Al Jareeza employee.
Al Jazeera Jerusalem bureau chief Omar al-Walid told The Times of Israel:
“This man is not from Al-Jazeera, and he did not work for Al-Jazeera at all, and he is not listed as working for Al-Jazeera neither now nor in the past… We do not know him, and all the rumors that have been spread are empty of content and not true at all.” He adds that the network plans to sue anyone spreading rumors claiming a link to Abdallah Aljamal (emphasis added).
Even before I knew the IDF lied about Al Jazeera, my initial reaction: THIS IDF? The one torturing prisoners from Gaza since last October at Sde Teiman?
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which filed a petition for the closure of the Sde Teiman site, was one of a number of groups demanding the closure of the detention facility at the former army base.
State Attorney Aner Helman, responding to the ACRI petition, told the court that 700 inmates had already been moved to Ofer, a military stockade in the West Bank. Another 500 were slated to be transferred in the coming weeks, leaving 200 at Sde Teiman whose future was yet to be decided.
Color me skeptical.
Aljamal was a contributor to The Palestine Chronicle. That label usually means freelance writer or unpaid writer, not an employee. The Palestine Chronicle is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has operated a news site since 1999.
CNN noted the lack of evidence in its headline, quite the exception. The news organization also provided claimed death counts:
The latest figures from Gazan authorities say 274 Palestinians were killed and 698 injured – which would mark one of the deadliest days in months for people living in Gaza.
The IDF has disputed those numbers, saying it estimated the number of casualties from the operation was “under 100.” CNN cannot independently verify either side’s figures.
