Israeli Hostages’ Lawsuit Against News Outlet That Paid Hamas Terrorist Will Head to Trial, Judge Rules
7th May 2025
Three former hostages sued the Washington-based Palestine Chronicle last year, alleging that the media organization knowingly paid their Hamas-operative captor, Abdallah Aljamal, who simultaneously worked as a Gaza correspondent for the nonprofit news site.
Hamas kidnapped Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov during its attack on the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023. The Israel Defense Forces ultimately rescued them from Aljamal’s home eight months later.
Palestine Chronicle leadership has claimed there is no evidence its staff was aware of Aljamal’s involvement in the kidnapping and argued that its payments to the Hamas operative had no impact on the hostages.
But Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright said the news outlet’s arguments were “unpersuasive,” and ruled that the plaintiffs’ case is strong enough to move to the trial and discovery process.