Minister of Defense Israel Katz has declared five media platforms operated by the Hamas terror organization as "terror organizations" for all intents and purposes.
The move, based on extensive Shin Bet intelligence, is meant to cut off the incitement pipelines that operated under the disguise of legitimate journalism.
According to the declaration, Hamas used the platforms Quds Plus, Maydan Alquds, Alquds Albawsala, Maraj, and Al Asima News as platforms for incitement while presenting them as legitimate news networks.
The Shin Bet found that these networks operated an extensive network of popular websites, Facebook pages, Telegram channels, YouTube channels, and Instagram pages.
The intelligence indicates that these bodies were directly operated by Hamas terrorists and received instructions from the organization's headquarters in the Gaza Strip, Turkey, and other countries.
The platforms' purpose was to incite the Israeli-Arab public and Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria, while exploiting current issues to wildly incite, encourage riots, and carry out nationalist terrorist acts.
The declaration deems all activity by these bodies, or of those who operate on their behalf, as illegal, and allows the security bodies to prosecute those involved.
