Defense Minister Israel Katz declared five media outlets operated by Hamas operatives as terrorist organizations. For several months, the Shin Bet gathered intelligence on 'Quds Plus,' 'Maidan al-Quds,' 'Al-Quds al-Bawsala,' 'Al-Maaraj' and 'Al-Asima,' which operated ostensibly as media organizations and ran popular websites, Facebook pages, WhatsApp groups, YouTube channels, Twitter, Instagram and Telegram accounts. The Shin Bet investigation revealed that these media outlets operated according to directives from Hamas command centers in the Gaza Strip, Turkey and other countries, with the aim of inciting Israeli Arabs.