Three former Israeli hostages rescued in a daring Israel Defense Forces raid last year are suing a US non-profit that employed the Hamas terrorist who held them captive for more than 200 days.
Former hostages Shlomi Ziv and Andrey Kozlov have signed on as plaintiffs to a lawsuit filed in Seattle federal court last year by fellow hostage Almog Meir Jan, The Post has learned.
The new filing against the Olympia, Washington-based nonprofit People Media Project and its sister website Palestine Chronicle, contains more details of the terrorist, Abdallah Aljamal, who had worked for the media organization and was killed in the raid.
His social media posts include a photograph of his young son wearing a Hamas headband and a graphic that is the symbol for Hamas’ internal security bureau.
In one instance, Aljamal posted a “blessing” on TikTok at 5:43 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2023, moments before the Hamas attack on Israel that left 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 taken hostage, according to court filings.
“Praise be to God, good and blessed praise,” the post reads. “O God, guide us. O God, guide us. O God, grant us the victory that you promised. O God, acceptance, acceptance, acceptance. Your victory, O God.” The post is followed by a heart emoji.
While holding the hostages at his home, Aljamal “expressed his hatred for the State of Israel” and was in frequent contact with Nura Tape-Sallie, “an editor at the Palestine Chronicle who posts footage glorifying armed Hamas militants on her Twitter/X page,” the lawsuit says, citing conversations overhead by one of the hostages.
Following the Hamas attack, “Aljamal’s propaganda in the Palestine Chronicle increased exponentially, often publishing two to three pieces per day, even as the Hamas operative held plaintiffs hostage in violation of international law,” court filings say.
The lawsuit also claims Ramzy Baroud, the US-based editor of the Palestine Chronicle and a defendant in the case had to know Aljamal was working for Hamas and harboring the captives while also still writing for the news service.
The lawsuit claims the defendants “knew that Aljamal’s…propaganda could only be made with direct and substantial contacts with other Hamas terrorists providing him information to publish, power for his electronic devices, and Internet access for transmission of materials and communications.”
Baroud did not respond to a request seeking comment Monday.
Aljamal had worked for the Palestine Chronicle since at least May, 2019, according to court filings.
