A bombshell investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call has revealed the existence of a covert Israeli military unit known as the “Legitimization Cell", tasked with collecting intelligence from Gaza, not for battlefield advantage, but to shape global media narratives and defend "Israel’s" image amid growing international criticism.

Formed after October 7, the unit sought information on the alleged military use of schools and hospitals by Hamas, as well as "rocket launches by Palestinian resistance groups that harmed civilians." It was also tasked with identifying Gaza-based journalists it could portray as Hamas operatives, in an attempt to counter mounting criticism over the targeting and killing of reporters, most recently, prominent Palestinian reporter Anas al-Sharif, who was deliberately killed in an Israeli airstrike last week.

The heartbreaking funeral of #anasalsharif and his 5 young colleagues, all murdered by the israelis in one INTENDED murderous missile strike pic.twitter.com/oEzEwPFxjf

— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) August 11, 2025

Sources told the outlets that the unit’s primary objective was not security but public relations. One source said members were angered by Gaza journalists “smearing [Israel’s] name in front of the world” and were eager to link a journalist to Hamas to justify targeting them.

According to the same source, a clear pattern emerged: when global media criticism of "Israel" intensified, the Legitimization Cell was tasked with finding declassifiable intelligence to shift the narrative. “If the global media is talking about Israel killing innocent journalists, then immediately there’s a push to find one journalist who might not be so innocent,  as if that somehow makes killing the other 20 acceptable,” the source said.

Another source said political leaders often dictated which intelligence areas the unit should prioritize, and that findings were regularly shared with the United States via direct channels.

Intelligence officers were told their work was critical to enabling "Israel" to prolong the war. “The team regularly collected intelligence that could be used for hasbara, say, a stockpile of [Hamas] weapons [found] in a school, anything that could bolster Israel’s international legitimacy to keep fighting,” the source explained. “The idea was to [allow the military to] operate without pressure, so countries like America wouldn’t stop supplying weapons.”

Manipulating intel

The unit also sought evidence linking Gaza’s police forces to October 7 in order to justify targeting them and dismantling civilian security infrastructure in Gaza. Two sources said that, in at least one case, the unit misrepresented intelligence to depict a journalist as a member of Hamas’ armed wing. “They were eager to label him as a target, as a terrorist, to say it’s okay to attack him,” one source recalled. But after a series of errors, “they realized he really was a journalist,” and he was not targeted.

Similar inconsistencies appeared in the case of Anas al-Sharif. The military claimed documents showed he joined Hamas in 2013 and remained active until an injury in 2017, which, even if true, would mean he had no operational role in the current war. In another case, journalist Ismail al-Ghoul was killed in a July 2024 airstrike alongside his cameraman. A month later, the army alleged he was a Hamas operative, citing a 2021 file allegedly recovered from a “Hamas computer” that stated he had received a military rank in 2007, when he was only 10 years old.

‘Find as much material as possible for Hasbara’

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One of the unit’s first major operations took place on October 17, 2023, following the deadly blast at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. While Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that an Israeli strike killed 500 people, "Israel" claimed a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket was responsible and that the death toll was lower. The following day, the army released a recording allegedly discovered by the unit, presented as a phone call between Hamas operatives blaming Islamic Jihad. The release was treated as credible by many international media outlets and was considered a major success by the unit.

In December 2023, a Palestinian rights activist told the outlets that he was shocked to hear his own voice in the recording, which he said was simply a personal conversation with a friend. He denied any affiliation with Hamas.

A source who worked with the Legitimization Cell said such intelligence releases were highly unorthodox. “It’s very much not in Unit 8200’s DNA to expose our capabilities for something as vague as public opinion,” the source explained.

Nonetheless, the military increasingly treated media as part of the battlefield, encouraging all intelligence staff to flag materials that could support "Israel’s" information campaign. “There was this phrase, ‘That’s good for legitimacy,’” one source recalled. “The goal was simply to find as much material as possible to serve hasbara efforts.”

Following the publication of the investigation, official security sources admitted that multiple “research teams” had been created within military intelligence over the past two years to “expose Hamas’ lies” and “discredit” journalists. They claimed that these teams were not responsible for targeting individuals.

‘I never once hesitated to convey the truth’

On August 10, the Israeli military killed six journalists in a strike it admitted was aimed at Anas al-Sharif. In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists had already warned that al-Sharif’s life was in danger, citing what he described as an Israeli smear campaign aimed at paving the way for his assassination.

After al-Sharif posted an emotional video about Gaza’s deepening hunger crisis, the army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, released three videos accusing him of spreading “propaganda” and participating in “Hamas’s false starvation campaign.”

“Keep being our voice, Anas, keep going.”

For 673 days, you carried the image to the world, enduring your pain and hunger — and today, it is time for your body to rest.#Gaza #anasalsharif pic.twitter.com/37ibh5poLI

— Soliman Hijjy (@SolimanHijjy) August 10, 2025

Israel and the US targeted and murdered this world-renown journalist just minutes ago. Will Western journalists speak up for for him? No, I don't expect they will. You all know why. #AnasAlSharif pic.twitter.com/hUEM6o2Nt8

— Dani Fethez (@DaniMet1) August 10, 2025

Al-Sharif warned that such accusations posed not only reputational harm but “a real-life threat.” Less than a month later, he was killed, with the military presenting what it claimed was declassified intelligence to justify the strike.

Back in October 2024, the army claimed that six journalists, including al-Sharif, were Hamas military operatives, an accusation al-Sharif publicly denied. He was the second journalist on that list to be killed, after Hossam Shabat.

Observers noted that al-Sharif’s regular public reporting from Gaza City made his location well known, raising questions about whether his killing was part of an effort to impose a media blackout before the city’s anticipated occupation.

In response to inquiries, the Israeli military said it had targeted “a terrorist from the Hamas terrorist organization who was operating under the guise of a journalist,” adding that it uses precision weapons and aerial surveillance to avoid harming civilians.

Al-Sharif, 28, was one of Gaza’s most well-known reporters. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 186 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, the deadliest period for the press since CPJ began tracking such data in 1992. Other estimates put the number as high as 270.

“If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice,” al-Sharif wrote in a final message published after his death. “I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification.”