German State TV acknowledges that murdered Gaza employee was a Hamas operative

In a highly rare case of a media company publicly acknowledging the accuracy of an Israeli military claim, Germany’s state broadcaster ZDF confirmed on Monday that an engineer working for it – previously described as a “journalist” – was in fact a Hamas terrorist.

Nearly two weeks ago, an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah killed Ahmed Asʿad Muhammad Abu Matar, an engineer for the production company Palestine Media Production (PMP), which has maintained a close working relationship with ZDF for years.

In the aftermath of the strike, ZDF initially characterized it as another attack on journalists, with its Tel Aviv correspondent Thomas Reichart alleging live on air at the time that “the incident fits into a pattern of attacks against journalists.”

On Monday, ZDF published a statement saying that the IDF had submitted a document which suggests Abu Matar was not “just” a member of a civilian Hamas institution or loosely affiliated, but “that the engineer was a member of the Qassam Brigades,” the group’s military wing.

“However, the documents do not provide any information about when or how the engineer was active for Hamas or what role he held. In response, ZDF has suspended its cooperation with the company until further notice.”

Germany’s largest daily newspaper, BILD, added that it also received a statement from the IDF indicating that Abu Matar had been deliberately targeted as a platoon commander.

In a live broadcast following the strike, Reichart said, “The production company with which ZDF has been cooperating for over 30 years – like other international broadcasters – states that the man had been working full-time for the company for twelve years.”

Reichart continued, “The accusation is that the television engineer killed in Deir al-Balah was a member of Hamas – hence the attack,” adding that the Israeli military “has repeatedly failed to provide evidence – as is the case so far here.”

According to the German right-wing media outlet NIUS, Abu Matar was also mentioned in statements issued by UNESCO and the Palestinian news agency WAFA, where he was described as a “freelance photographer.”

Following the strike, ZDF Editor-in-Chief Bettina Schausten stated, “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, to whom we express our deepest condolences. It is unacceptable that media professionals are attacked while carrying out their work.”

The incident is notably one of the few instances in which a Western media outlet has been forced to publicly acknowledge that one of its employees was a Hamas terrorist.

Over the course of the war, the IDF has published numerous documents and other proof showing that members of international organizations like UNRWA and journalists working for Western and Middle Eastern news organizations were active Hamas terrorists.

Some of them participated in the invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, or served as captors and jailers of Israeli hostages.

Israel has long asserted that Hamas maintains full control over media activity in the Gaza Strip, claiming that nearly all local freelancers and production companies – on whom international news organizations depend for coverage from within Gaza – are either directly linked to or operate under the influence of the terror group.