Some of these campaigns preceded the Israeli army’s statement on October 23, 2024, which alleged that six Al Jazeera journalists were affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

In a previous report titled "Israeli Influencers Launch Disinformation Campaign Against Gaza Journalists” ," we tracked Israeli influencers with tens of thousands of followers on X. These influencers systematically spread misleading narratives at different times, targeting three Al Jazeera journalists named in the Israeli army’s statement: Anas Al Sharif, Hossam Shabat, and Ismail Omar.

A recent Reporters Without Borders report has classified Gaza as “the most dangerous region” for journalists worldwide, highlighting that they face not only physical threats but also systematic smear campaigns.

Anas Al Sharif

We tracked the posts published about journalist Anas Al-Sharif in English using the monitoring tool Meltwater Explore and identified several accounts that launched misleading incitement campaigns against Al Sharif.

Five pro-Israel accounts launched a disinformation campaign against Al Sharif on December 11, 2023, following his father’s killing in an Israeli airstrike on their family home in Jabalia camp, as reported by Al Jazeera.

A screenshot in English and its Arabic translation of the first account to post misleading content against journalist Anas Al-Sharif on December 11, 2023. Source: (@MiddleEastOSINT/ Archive).

The account @MiddleEastOSINT was the first to claim that "Anas Al Sharif celebrated the October 7, 2023 attack and posted documentation of the bodies of the dead," commenting on a video taken during Al Sharif’s father’s funeral.

According to Social Blade, the @MiddleEastOSINT account was created on October 22, 2023, after Israel’s war on Gaza began. Over 13 months, the account posted 16,394 times, averaging 40 posts per day, indicating abnormal activity.

The account holds a blue verification badge, which can be obtained through a paid monthly subscription on X. It lists its location as Israel and uses a profile picture of Canadian actor Ryan Gosling.

A review of @MiddleEastOSINT’s activity shows that the vast majority of its posts are in Hebrew, supporting Israel and its wars on Gaza, Lebanon, and more recently, Syria, as well as some posts in English and Arabic.

Four screenshots of four fake accounts that posted misleading content against journalist Anas Al-Sharif on December 11, 2023, at different times, using the same text and video. Sources: (Source1/ Archive), (Source2/ Archive), (Source3/ Archive), (Source4/ Archive).

Four other accounts posted the same video, accompanied by the text written by @MiddleEastOSINT.

A screenshot of a misleading post published by the account @RealQuasar0 about journalist Anas Al Sharif, using wording similar to the text posted by the previous four accounts. Source:(@RealQuasar0/ Archive).

The fifth account, @RealQuasar0, used part of the text with slightly different wording while sharing the same video. All five accounts support Israel, either through their profile and cover photos or by displaying a yellow ribbon, which represents solidarity with the families of Israeli captives. Additionally, some accounts include the word "Zionist" in their bio section.

A review of these accounts shows that they have been actively posting and extensively retweeting pro-Israeli content over the past 12 months.

Screenshot of a post by @theothershira on February 1, 2024, claiming that the wife of journalist Anas Al Sharif is the niece of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Source: (@theothershira/ Archive)

On February 1, 2024, the account @theothershira posted a claim that journalist Anas Al Sharif’s wife, Bayan Al Sinwar, is the niece of late Hamas leader Yahya Al Sinwar.

The account published this post at 05:56 Eastern European Time (EET) and attempted to amplify it by reposting it in the comments 12 times between 06:10 and 07:08. These comments were made on accounts of Israeli influencers and pro-Israel figures, each with tens or hundreds of thousands of followers, all of whom had blue verification badges.

Two screenshots show the similarity in wording between the post by @theothershira and the post by Leslie Kajomovitz (@lkajomovitz), which contained misleading information about journalist Anas Al Sharif’s wife. Sources: (@theothershira/ Archive) (@lkajomovitz/ Archive)

We noticed a similarity in wording between the post by @theothershira and the post by Leslie Kajomovitz (@lkajomovitz) in the phrases: "You will never guess who" and "Before everyone/you ask... she is Yahya Sinwar’s niece."

We had previously identified the misleading nature of Leslie Kajomovitz’s (@lkajomovitz) post in the first part of this report.

Upon investigating the owner of the account with the handle @theothershira, we found that it belongs to an Israeli woman residing in the UK who works as a Hebrew/English translator. According to Bot Sentinel, @theothershira updated her account and profile picture on June 23, 2024, replacing her personal photo with a painting of a violin.

Through a reverse image search on Yandex, we were able to retrieve her previous profile picture. This led us to her identity via the translation platform Proz.com, where her professional biography was listed.

The most frequently used phrases by the account @theothershira according to Bot Sentinel.

The phrases: “Gaza Journalists,” “Al Sharif,” “Aqsa Channels,” and “Sinwar’s Niece” were among the most frequently used by the @theothershira account, according to the Bot Sentinel tool, indicating that the account targeted journalists and media workers in Gaza.

On October 24, 2024, Eitan Fischberger posted a tweet claiming that journalist Anas Al Sharif was affiliated with Hamas. We tracked the series of tweets posted by Fischberger and debunked his claims in the first part of the report.

Following Fischberger’s post, an account named @ubuto23 was observed actively promoting his post. The account was particularly active in the comments under a post by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which condemned the Israeli army’s accusations against six journalists, stating that the claims lacked credible evidence.

Screenshot showing the comment by account @ubuto23 on the CPJs' post, sharing Fischberger's post. Source:(@ubuto23/ Archive).

Account @ubuto23 commented on the Committee to Protect Journalists' post, sharing Fischberger's post seven times within four minutes between 11:27 and 11:31 EET.

Upon examining @ubuto23's account, unusual activity was observed. The account was created in August 2022, and since then, it has posted over 48,000 times. This high volume of posts over two and a half years is an indicator of abnormal activity that may be linked to coordinated campaigns.

The account is named Evan and uses a profile picture featuring the emblem of the "Russian Revolutionary Socialist" party, along with a cover image showing the Sinai Peninsula from a satellite view.

Upon reviewing the account, it was found to share posts opposing the Palestinian cause and supporting Israel.

Additionally, we observed that this account shared another post by Eitan Fischberger on March 24, 2024, about journalist Hossam Shabat, in four comments on posts by various anonymous accounts—an activity aimed at amplifying the reach of the original post.

Hossam Shabat

Screenshot of Eitan Fischberger's post on X dated March 24, 2024, which includes a screenshot of Hossam Shabat's post regarding attacks on Al Shifa Hospital. Source: (@EFischberger/ Archive)

On March 24, 2023, Israeli influencer Eitan Fischberger posted a claim that journalist Hossam Shabat was engaging in "Hamas propaganda" regarding alleged rapes inside Al Shifa Hospital. 435 accounts interacted with the post, 34 of which were created after October 7, 2023. Upon examining these accounts, we found unusual patterns of activity. They had posted and shared an average of 18,000 posts within approximately 12 months from their creation, indicating that they were likely fake or semi-automated accounts. Additionally, we noticed that some of these accounts had no profile pictures, while others used AI-generated images. By monitoring their activity, it became clear the accounts were amplifying pro-Israel posts by resharing them multiple times. We also found that 29 of the accounts that interacted with the post were later deleted for violating X policies.

 Three screenshots showing the sequence of retweets of Fischberger’s post about Anas Al Sharif based on timestamps. Sources:(@dovm336583/ Archive) (@bennnnnbennnnnn/ Archive) (@EFischberger/ Archive)

Before Eitan Fischberger reshared his previous post about journalist Hossam Shabat on March 23, 2024, following the Israeli army's statement, two accounts were observed resharing the same post in separate comments. The first account is named @dovm336583, while the second account is @bennnnnbennnnnn.

Screenshots show a series of posts shared by @dovm336583 in a pinned post at the top of the profile, featuring posts from Israeli influencers targeting several journalists in Gaza. Source: (@dovm336583/ Archive).

Upon reviewing the account @dovm336583, we found that it has a pinned post at the top of its profile titled: “Unmasked Gazan ‘journalists’”, with a series of posts below accusing several journalists in Gaza of being affiliated with Hamas. This included posts by Eitan Fischberger.

According to Twitonomy, this account was created on October 12, 2023—shortly after the war on Gaza began. The account does not have a profile picture or cover photo and has posted over 9,000 times in the past 12 months, indicating an unusual level of activity.

A screenshot of Fischberger's post retweeted by @RenrawT in the comments of a post published by Hossam Shabat. Source:(@RenrawT/ Archive)

On March 25, 2024, the account @RenrawT shared Eitan Fischberger's post five times in the comments on journalist Hossam Shabat's account within a single minute, between 01:02 and 01:03 AM. The comments accused Shabat of having ties to Hamas. The account, which uses the Israeli flag as a profile picture, frequently shares pro-Israel content, including Fischberger’s posts. According to Socialblade, @RenrawT was created in October 2023 and has since posted over 14,000 tweets—an unusually high number, suggesting coordinated or automated activity.

Another account, @ariels__x, further amplified Fischberger’s post by sharing it seven times in various comment threads, including four replies to comments on a post by British writer and influencer Owen Jones, known for his support of the Palestinian cause. 

Screenshot of a post by @francoisamara1, in which he shared Fischberger's post and commented: "Journalist Hossam Shabat is a dead man." Source: (@francoisamara1/ أرشيف)

Initially, he shared Fischberger’s post on his account on March 24, 2024, at 10:14 PM Eastern European Time (EET). About an hour later, he shared it again, this time adding a comment: “Journalist Hossam Shabat is a dead man. Hamas propaganda has escalated significantly regarding allegations of rape incidents at Al Shifa Hospital.” He also tagged the accounts of Shabat, Al Jazeera, and several Palestinian ambassadors and officials. He then proceeded to share Fischberger’s post multiple times in the comments on Shabat’s account.

Screenshot of Khaled Hassan's post on X dated September 18, 2024, along with screenshots from a Facebook account under the name Hossam Shabat. Source: (@Khaledhzakariah/ Archive)

In the first part of the report, we identified inciteful content posted by Khaled Hassan (@Khaledhzakariah) on X on September 18, 2024. His post accused Shabat of participating in the October 7 attack—an allegation that several fake accounts attempted to amplify and spread. The post reached over 73,000 users, generating 829 interactions, including likes, shares, and comments, with 232 users retweeting it.

Screenshot of a post by Khaled Hassan, which was retweeted 13 times within three minutes by the account @waltisnotmyname on Hossam Shabat’s post. Source: (@waltisnotmyname/ Archive)

On October 23, 2024, the account @waltisnotmyname shared Khaled Hassan’s post 13 times within three minutes, between 10:58 and 11:01 PM, indicating inorganic activity or automation. Additionally, @waltisnotmyname retweeted Hassan’s post three times in response to users commenting on Shabat’s post. The account also shared the same tweet eight times under another post by Turkish-American broadcaster Hasan Baker regarding the Israeli army’s statement.

Several indicators suggest that @waltisnotmyname is a fake account. Created on September 15, 2022, it has posted 12,000 tweets, mostly supporting Israel. The account uses an image of Slovenian basketball player Luka Dončić as its profile picture and includes the description: "Proud to be Jewish. My posts reflect my opinions, but they are always right," along with an Israeli flag.

Screenshot of a post shared multiple times by the account @hicowiwy71944 under journalist Hossam Shabat’s post. Source:(@hicowiwy71944/ Archive)

We also identified another account, @hicowiwy71944, which shared Khaled Hassan’s tweet six times in the comments—some under Hossam Shabat’s tweet responding to the Israeli army’s statement, and others under a tweet by influencer Tamoor Hussain, the editor-in-chief of GameSpot, who criticized what he described as the Israeli army's "intentions to assassinate journalists without providing any evidence."

A screenshot of the account @hicowiwy71944 on X. Source:(@hicowiwy71944/ Archive)

According to Twitonomy, @hicowiwy71944 was created on October 23, 2024—the same day the Israeli army released a statement alleging that six Al Jazeera journalists were affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. All indicators suggest the account is fake. It lacks a profile picture, has never posted original content, has no followers, and provides no identifying details or location. So far, its activity consists of 29 comments, all of which either share the Israeli army's statement about the six journalists or amplify misleading posts by Israeli influencers targeting journalists in Gaza."

Ismail Omar

On February 13, 2023, following the announcement that Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and cameraman Ahmed Mattar had been seriously injured by an Israeli drone strike in the Me’raj area, north of Rafah, a disinformation campaign was launched on X targeting Abu Omar. The campaign aimed to tarnish his reputation and cast doubt on the credibility of his journalistic reports.

Using the monitoring tool Meltwater Explore, we tracked the accounts involved in this campaign that posted about journalist Ismail Abu Omar in English. Data analysis revealed that several fake accounts played the role of "whistleblowers" in the campaign by publishing posts claiming that Abu Omar was affiliated with Hamas and alleging his involvement in the October 7 attacks.

We identified seven fake accounts that were among the first to spread misleading information about Ismail Abu Omar between 2:56 PM and 7:44 PM Eastern European Time (EET), before Israeli influencer Aviva Klompas published her post—which we analyzed and debunked in the first part of this report.

These accounts used a video of Abu Omar covering Hamas's incursion into the Nir Oz settlement, falsely claiming he participated in the October 7 attack. Some of these accounts also placed the video alongside an image of Abu Omar after he was injured by an Israeli drone strike, attempting to justify the attack on him.

All seven accounts use fake names—some feature AI-generated profile pictures, while others display generic avatars.

Screenshot of a post published by the account @RRespawned on February 13, 2024, containing misleading content about journalist Ismail Abu Omar. Source: (@RRespawned/ Archive) 

At 3:00 PM Eastern European Time, the account @RRespawned published its first post claiming that journalist Ismail Abu Omar had "documented" the October 7 attack. The post used two videos previously shared by Abu Omar on his Telegram channel on October 7, showing his journalistic coverage of Hamas’s assault on the Gaza envelope.

According to Social Blade, @RRespawned was created on October 20, 2020, and has since posted 200,575 times—a staggering volume of activity that exceeds typical engagement levels on social media platforms.

The account operates under the name "Rat Bastard" and uses an AI-generated image of a rat as its profile picture. It lacks any identifying details that could reveal the owner’s identity.

Screenshots of posts from both @RRespawned and @anchor_fouled reveal identical text alongside the use of the same videos. Source:(@RRespawned/ Archive) (@anchor_fouled/ Archive)

Upon analyzing the posts from the seven accounts, we identified repeated use of the same text by both @RRespawned and @anchor_fouled regarding journalist Ismail Abu Omar. Notably, @RRespawned was the first to publish this text based on the post's timestamp. The duplication of text among accounts with aligned agendas is a strong indicator of coordinated activity aimed at amplifying discussion around a particular topic.

Two screenshots of posts by @RealQuasar0—one about journalist Anas Al-Sharif dated December 11, 2023, and the other about journalist Ismail Abu Omar dated February 13, 2024. Source: (Source 1/ Archive) (Source 2/ Archive) 

We identified the account @RealQuasar0 as one of the seven accounts that acted as a “whistleblower” (campaign initiator) in the disinformation campaign against journalist Ismail Abu Omar. This is the same account we mentioned at the beginning of the report, which played a similar role in launching an incitement campaign against journalist Anas Al Sharif on December 11, 2023.

Gaza: The Most Dangerous Place in the World for Journalists

The 2024 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report highlighted a sharp increase in attacks on journalists, particularly in conflict zones, naming Gaza as "the most dangerous place in the world for journalists." The report recorded the highest number of journalist fatalities in Gaza over the past five years.

According to RSF, one-third of all journalists killed worldwide in 2024 lost their lives at the hands of the Israeli army. Since October 2023, over 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza, with at least 32 deliberately targeted while reporting.

In another report, RSF detailed Israel’s destruction of media offices, the arrest and torture of journalists, and the routine cutting of internet and electricity. Journalists who continue working in the besieged territory often find themselves the targets of smear campaigns, accused of collaborating with militants or participating in the October 7 attacks.