Killing the messenger: Israel’s secret unit to justify journalist assassinations

Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, foreign journalists have been barred from entering the strip—except for a few briefs, tightly controlled trips with the Israeli army, during which restrictions, including a ban on speaking with Palestinians, were imposed.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Palestinian journalists covering the Gaza war and reporting from the field face the highest risk in the world. The CPJ also reported that since Israel’s assault on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, the Israeli regime has carried out 26 deliberate killings of journalists, which fall under the category of murder.

Two months before the killing of Anas al-Sharif, an Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza, the CPJ had warned that his life was at risk, stating that he had become the target of an Israeli military smear campaign that could be a prelude to his assassination.

After al-Sharif posted a widely viewed video in July documenting Gaza’s hunger crisis, Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli army, released three videos attacking him, accusing him of “propaganda” and participating in a so-called “fake famine campaign.”

Al-Sharif recognized the link between Israel’s media war and its military operations, telling CPJ that Adraee’s campaign was not just a media threat or character assassination, but “a real threat to life.” Less than a month later, Israel killed al-Sharif. To justify the strike, the army released information aimed at smearing and discrediting him.

Back in October 2024, the Israeli army had already alleged that six Al Jazeera journalists—including al-Sharif—were members of the resistance, a claim strongly denied by him. He became the second journalist from that list, after Hussam Shabat, to be targeted. Since the October accusation, al-Sharif’s whereabouts had been well-known, prompting many observers to question whether targeting him, who regularly reported from Gaza City, was part of Israel’s censorship strategy ahead of its planned military takeover of the city.

Following the killing of al-Sharif and three of his colleagues in recent days—a move that drew global attention to the dire risks facing journalists in Gaza—the Israeli regime put forward further claims about him. These allegations intensified scrutiny of Israel’s attempts to manipulate media coverage of the war.

The secret “Legitimization Unit” for crimes against journalists

A joint Palestinian-Israeli investigation has revealed that a special unit in the Israeli army is tasked with covering up the massacre of journalists and legitimizing these crimes in order to mitigate international outrage.

After murdering al-Sharif and his colleagues, Israel produced a flimsy dossier of unverified claims alleging links between the Al Jazeera journalist and the Palestinian resistance. However, the dossier failed to explain how he could have served as a military commander while simultaneously broadcasting regular reports from one of the most heavily monitored places on earth.

Journalist advocacy groups and al-Sharif himself had previously highlighted Israel’s tactic of fabricating accusations to justify its crimes. These smear campaigns against him began in 2024 and were reignited with increasing frequency after his reports on famine in Gaza.

According to +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, which jointly investigated the matter, this so-called “Legitimization Unit” was established after October 7, 2023.

Citing three intelligence sources, the report stated that the unit’s purpose was to gather information that could bolster Israel’s image and secure diplomatic and military support from key allies. Other tasks included spreading disinformation about Gaza’s hospitals and schools being used for military purposes, portraying failed rocket launches by Palestinian resistance as Palestinian-caused disasters, and smearing journalists.

These sources emphasized that the unit’s motivation was not security but public relations. They told +972 that the unit specifically worked to undermine Palestinian journalists and strip them of their protected status under international law.

A repeating pattern was described: whenever media criticism of Israel intensified, the unit was ordered to find information that could be declassified and publicly used to justify Israel’s narrative.

One source explained: “If global media outlets are talking about Israel killing innocent journalists, immediately a campaign begins to accuse a journalist of ties to militants—so that killing 20 others might appear acceptable.”

Another source added that it was Israel’s political leadership dictating to the army which areas the unit should focus on, while the intelligence it gathered was regularly funneled directly to the Americans.

According to another source, the team routinely collected material that could be used for hasbara (the Hebrew term for Israel’s propaganda efforts to justify its actions) or anything that might strengthen international legitimacy for Israel’s war effort, with the goal of ensuring the army could operate without restrictions and that allies like the U.S. would not halt arms supplies.

Two intelligence sources said that in at least one case, the unit falsified information to falsely portray a journalist as a member of the resistance—because, in Israel’s view, membership in the Palestinian resistance is equivalent to a death warrant.

This same pattern of information manipulation was evident in the case of al-Sharif, as well as in the killing of Ismail al-Ghoul, another journalist who, along with his cameraman, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in July 2024.

One of the earliest high-profile operations of the Legitimization Unit took place on October 17, 2023, after the deadly explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. While international media—citing Gaza’s Ministry of Health—reported that Israel’s strike killed 500 Palestinians, Israeli officials claimed the blast was caused by a failed Palestinian rocket launch and that the death toll was far lower.

The Legitimization Unit played a key role in spreading these baseless claims. Many international outlets later treated Israel’s version as plausible, with some conducting their own investigations, which damaged the credibility of Gaza’s Health Ministry—a development the Israeli army hailed as a “victory” for the unit.

Three intelligence sources confirmed that Israel’s conduct toward the media is essentially an extension of the battlefield, with the unit authorized to declassify sensitive information for public release. Intelligence personnel outside the unit were also instructed to flag any material that could aid Israel in its information war.

One source recalled a common phrase within the unit: “This is good for legitimacy.” The sole objective was to gather as much material as possible to serve Israel’s propaganda efforts.

Israeli security officials told +972 and Local Call that in the past two years, several “research teams” were established within Israeli military intelligence. They said the purpose of these teams was to discredit journalists who provided accurate, evidence-based reporting on the war.

According to these sources, however, these research teams were not directly involved in selecting individual targets for military strikes.