Al Jazeera Did Not Report the Participation of 4,000 Moroccan Soldiers in the War on Gaza
The Claim
From the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth: Quoting a military source: More than 4,000 Moroccan soldiers are participating alongside the Israeli occupation soldiers in their war on Gaza!
News posted on
Emerging story
Recently, social media users have been sharing a news story attributed to Al Jazeera. The publishers claimed that Al Jazeera reported an article from the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which in turn cited a military source stating that "more than 4000 Moroccan soldiers are participating alongside the Israeli occupation army in the war on Gaza since the beginning of this year, as part of a military agreement signed by the Moroccan and Israeli armies.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the claim and found it to be fake, as the design is fabricated and Al Jazeera did not report that more than 4000 Moroccan soldiers are participating alongside the Israeli army in the ongoing war on Gaza, as claimed by the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The Report of Moroccan Soldiers Participating in the Gaza War Is Fake
Misbar investigated the news on Al Jazeera's website and its official social media accounts but found no relevant information.
Additionally, Misbar discovered that the design featuring the news was fabricated to mimic Al Jazeera's news style for reporting on the Gaza situation.
Furthermore, it was evident that the news text was written in a different font from Al Jazeera's standard editorial font, and it contained linguistic and spelling errors.
Yedioth Ahronoth Did Not Report on Moroccan Soldiers Participating in the Gaza War
Upon searching for the news regarding "the participation of more than 4000 Moroccan soldiers alongside the Israeli army in the war on Gaza" on the Hebrew Yedioth Ahronoth website, it became apparent that the Israeli newspaper did not report any news on this matter from a military source, nor was it published by any trusted official source.
The attached image accompanying the news shows Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz alongside the Moroccan Chief of Staff during Gantz's visit to Morocco in November 2021.
The Moroccan-Israeli Military Cooperation
On November 24, 2021, both Israel and Morocco signed a memorandum of understanding on defense during a visit by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz to the capital, Rabat, after Morocco upgraded its diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Defense stated that the memorandum of understanding was signed by Benny Gantz and Abdellatif Loudiyi, the minister delegate to the head of government responsible for national defense administration. The spokesperson added that this memorandum would enable the two countries to enhance cooperation in areas such as intelligence, industry, military training, and other fields.
In January 2023, Morocco and Israel agreed to strengthen and expand military cooperation to include areas such as intelligence, air defense, and electronic warfare. This came after a meeting of the Defense Cooperation Follow-up Committee, held on January 16 and 17, 2023, in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.
Morocco Condemns the Israeli Aggression Against Gaza
As the Israeli war on Gaza continues since October 7, 2023, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction in the Gaza Strip.
During his speech at the 33rd Arab League Summit on May 16, Moroccan King Mohammed VI emphasized that "the retaliatory actions in the Gaza Strip have revealed serious violations against international law and humanitarian law."
The Moroccan King reiterated his condemnation of the killing of innocent people, indicating that "imposing a new reality in the Gaza Strip and attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians are rejected, as they only exacerbate the situation and increase violence and instability."
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