IDF Confirms Hostage Noa Argamani Was Held in Al-Jazeera Cameraman’s House

By Yoni Weiss

The IDF confirmed Sunday evening reports circulating in Arab media indicating that Noa Argamani, a former Israeli hostage rescued in a daring raid on Shabbos, was held captive for eight months in the home of an Al-Jazeera cameraman. According to Open Source Intelligence Monitor, a recent post on social media stated, “26-year-old Noa Argamani was being held captive in the home of Abdallah Aljamal, a photojournalist and writer/editor for both Al-Jazeera and the Palestinian Chronicle.”

“Following the completion of IDF and ISA examinations of reports on the subject, it can be confirmed that Abdallah Aljamal was an operative in the Hamas terrorist organization, who held the hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv captive in his family home in Nuseirat,” a statement from the IDF read. “The hostages were held captive by Abdallah Aljamal and members of his family in their home. This is further evidence of the deliberate use of civilian homes and buildings by the Hamas terrorist organization to hold Israeli hostages captive in the Gaza Strip.”

In response to escalating tensions with Qatar over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s cabinet unanimously voted to close Qatari media network Al-Jazeera’s operations in Israel. This decision follows the recent passage of a law by the Knesset that allows the temporary closure of foreign broadcasters deemed a threat to national security during the ongoing war against Hamas.

Israel has accused Qatar, which funds Hamas, of inflaming the conflict through Al-Jazeera’s coverage, which it views as sympathetic to Hamas. Al-Jazeera has denied any bias and vowed to continue its reporting from the region.