Hamas: Saudi MBC channel’s report makes it complicit in Israeli genocide

A senior official with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has censured the Saudi-owned MBC television channel for its recent affront to the leaders and top commander of the resistance front, stressing that the hostile move will make them complicit in Israeli atrocities and genocide against Palestinians.

The Saudi TV channel, in a report on Friday, described martyred commanders and leaders of the Axis of Resistance as “terrorists,” sparking outrage among supporters of the popular movement.

Speaking at a press conference in the Lebanese capital of Beirut after four months, Sami Abu Zuhri said the Saudi channel’s move came as the Israeli regime has over the past year cut off communication in the Gaza Strip to cover up its atrocities against Palestinians in the blockaded territory.

“The criminal occupation army’s cutting off of communications and the internet in northern Gaza is intended to cover up the genocide it is committing, isolating our people, and preventing the real picture from being transmitted to the world about the daily massacre and holocaust it is executing there,” Abu Zuhri said.

“We denounce and reject the actions of some Arabic-language media outlets that adopt an editorial policy and media discourse that aligns with the Zionist occupation’s agenda and its dark narrative, distorting our people’s resistance and national symbols,” he added.

According to Abu Zuhri, such practices strip these media of “all values of objectivity and professionalism,” and place them on the side of the Zionist enemy and as “partners in the war of genocide” against Palestinians.

After the broadcaster aired the report disrespectful to the commanders and leaders of the Axis of Resistance, the Iraqi government revoked the license of the Saudi-owned MBC television channel in the country and ordered the broadcaster to close its bureau in Baghdad.

The media regulatory body in Saudi Arabia also summoned officials from the private broadcaster MBC and said the report was “in violation of the Kingdom’s media regulations and policy.”

The Hamas official also said the horrific crimes Israel is committing in the northern Gaza Strip are “beyond description.”

What is happening there is complete genocide and execution of Palestinian people in blatant violation of international humanitarian law and all international treaties and conventions, he added.

“The international community and its institutions are now facing a real test to break their silence and inaction and work to uphold the values of humanity, justice, and the principles upon which they were founded,” he said.

Abu Zuhri urged the international community and the United Nations to take serious and effective action to impose sanctions on Israel’s fascist cabinet and isolate it from all UN institutions, pressuring the regime and its supporters to stop their war of genocide in Gaza.

US, allies ‘fully responsible’ for Gaza genocide

During his press conference, the senior Hamas official condemned the United States and its Western allies over their unwavering support to the occupying entity in its crimes against Palestinians.

“We hold the US administration and all the countries supporting the occupation in its war against our people—especially Britain and Germany—fully responsible for the consequences of these massacres, crimes, and the war of genocide being committed daily against our people in Gaza, due to their provision of weapons, bombs, and military equipment to the occupation army, as well as granting it political cover,” Abu Zuhri said.

“We call on the International Court of Justice to take urgent measures to compel these countries to halt their arms exports to the Zionist entity.”

The official urged the Arab and Islamic nations, their governments, and institutions to engage in confrontation with the Israeli regime, in support of Gaza and the resistance, and to send a message to the occupation and its supporters that “Gaza is not alone.”

Abu Zuhri also reaffirmed that Palestinians and the resistance front will continue with their steadfastness, resistance, and fight against Israeli aggression “until full liberation, independence, and return are achieved.”

At least 42,519 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on the Gaza Strip since the regime launched its merciless offensive in October last year.