Qatar-based Al Jazeera has dismissed 24 journalists and other staff members who worked for the network in the Gaza Strip, including reporters, photographers and producers, without publicly explaining the move. Several of those dismissed are named in a U.S. civil lawsuit accusing the network of providing support to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and employing members of the terror groups as media workers.
There is no evidence that the lawsuit prompted the dismissals, and Al Jazeera has not acknowledged any connection. In Israel, however, the move is being viewed by some officials and others involved in the case as an indirect indication that the network itself may have developed concerns about some of the people it employed in Gaza.
The lawsuit was filed in February 2025 by Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Americans and their relatives who were harmed in the October 7 attack and the ensuing war. The pro-Israel advocacy organization StandWithUs assisted with research for the case.
Among the plaintiffs is Morris Schneider, the uncle of Shiri Bibas and great-uncle of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were murdered in Hamas captivity.
The suit was filed under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act, which allows victims to seek damages from entities they allege knowingly provided substantial assistance to terrorist organizations. The plaintiffs are seeking more than $1 billion in damages, as well as punitive damages.
According to the complaint, Al Jazeera went beyond covering Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and allegedly provided them with infrastructure for disseminating propaganda, recruiting operatives and inciting violence.
The plaintiffs further allege that the network maintained regular contacts with senior members of the organizations, paid for exclusive interviews and employed members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad as reporters, photographers and producers. The lawsuit also claims that some people working under the Al Jazeera name directly participated in the October 7 attack.
Those allegations have not been adjudicated in court. Al Jazeera has filed a motion seeking dismissal of the case, arguing that the complaint fails to establish a sufficient legal basis for the claims. The motion remains pending.
Part of the lawsuit relies on documents that the IDF says were seized in Gaza. In October 2024, the military identified six Al Jazeera journalists whom it alleged were members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, citing personnel records, salary documents, phone directories and records of military training.
At least three of those named by the IDF are among the employees whose work has now been terminated: Alaa Salameh and Ashraf Saraj, whom the military identified as Palestinian Islamic Jihad members, and Talal al-Arrouqi, whom it identified as a Hamas member.
Al Jazeera has repeatedly rejected Israel’s allegations, accusing it of portraying journalists as terrorists in order to justify targeting them.
Al Jazeera studios in Qatar
( Photo: AP)
During the war, the IDF also killed several journalists working for the network after alleging that they simultaneously served in Hamas or Islamic Jihad. They included Anas al-Sharif, Hossam Shabat, Ismail al-Ghoul, Hamza al-Dahdouh and Mohammed Wishah. Al Jazeera rejected the allegations against its employees and accused Israel of seeking to silence its coverage.
The U.S. lawsuit seeks to hold not only individual employees but also the network’s management and its U.S. subsidiary responsible, alleging that the purported assistance to the terror groups reflected a broader pattern rather than isolated conduct by individual staff members.
No evidence has been presented showing that the lawsuit itself led Al Jazeera to terminate the Gaza employees. Plaintiffs and others involved in the litigation, however, point to the timing and to the fact that several people cited in the case are no longer working directly for the network after Al Jazeera spent years rejecting allegations about links between its personnel and Hamas.
The dismissals were first reported by Palestinian news platforms and were later confirmed publicly by several of the affected staff members.
Those whose work was terminated included employees of Al Jazeera Mubasher, the network’s Arabic-language live broadcasting channel, as well as personnel who supplied material for news programs and the network’s website.
It remains unclear whether all 24 were salaried employees or whether some worked under temporary contracts. Several said management had previously assured them that their positions were secure. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported in April that the contracts of four other Gaza journalists had not been renewed after expiring.
Among those who confirmed their dismissal were reporter Mohammed Shaheen, reporter Hassan al-Zaanin and cameraman and field producer Mahmoud Shalha. Shalha wrote on social media that he was informed of the decision during a phone call lasting about 15 seconds, with no explanation or advance warning.
Shaheen and al-Zaanin said they had risked their lives while covering the war and that the dismissals came after they had received assurances of job security. Al Jazeera has issued no public statement explaining whether the move was based on professional, legal, financial or other considerations.
(Photo: IDF)
Alongside speculation about whether the U.S. lawsuit influenced the decision, network employees have pointed to a possible organizational explanation. Staff members have said Al Jazeera Mubasher is undergoing restructuring and that management in Doha wants to reduce live broadcasting from Gaza while routing more material through edited news programs.
Arabic-language reports have suggested that some of those dismissed could return to work for the network as freelancers through an outside company called MEDIA. Such an arrangement would reduce their direct contractual relationship with Al Jazeera without necessarily removing them from its content operation.
The firings also come amid broader scrutiny of the status of media workers in Gaza who have been accused of simultaneously serving in armed groups.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has reviewed entries in its database of journalists killed during the war after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad published obituaries identifying some people previously listed as media workers as members of their organizations. The organization has said that journalists lose civilian protection under international humanitarian law while directly participating in hostilities.
Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem, before they were closed
( Photo: AP)
Israel banned Al Jazeera’s operations in the country in May 2024 after the government said its broadcasts harmed national security and served Hamas propaganda. The network denounced the decision as an attack on press freedom. Israeli forces later raided the network’s offices in Ramallah in September 2024 and ordered them closed.
Despite those measures, Al Jazeera continued extensive coverage from Gaza through local crews, some of whom are now at the center of the U.S. litigation.
Jordan Cope, policy director at StandWithUs and an adviser on legal research for the case, said members of terrorist organizations “cannot use journalism as a disguise and shape the information reaching millions of viewers.”
He said Al Jazeera still had many questions to answer, while arguing that the dismissals could represent a first step toward preventing members of terror groups from operating under the title of journalist.