Injured Al Jazeera Journalist A Hamas Member, Claims Israel

The Israeli army on Wednesday said an Al Jazeera journalist wounded in an air strike in Gaza was a Hamas member who filmed himself at a kibbutz during the October 7 attack.

The broadcaster itself reported on Tuesday that Arabic language reporter Ismail Abu Omar and his cameraman Ahmad Matar were both seriously injured north of Rafah and taken to hospital for treatment.

But the Israeli military described Omar as "a deputy company commander in Hamas's Eastern Battalion of Khan Yunis".

"Abu Omar even filmed himself in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7th massacre and published it on social media platforms," a statement read.

The Qatar-based television network has not yet responded to the latest accusation.

But on Tuesday it criticised the Israeli military for deliberately targeting its employees as they reported on the plight of civilians caught up in the war with Hamas.

The network said the strike was a "fully fledged crime which adds to Israel's crime against journalists" and was aimed at preventing reporters covering the war.

Abu Omar's right leg was blown off in the drone strike, while doctors were trying to save the left one, Al Jazeera said, quoting an emergency physician.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has recorded the deaths of at least 85 journalists and media workers -- 78 of them Palestinian -- since the war erupted on October 7.