Many Hamas Telegram channels have been blocked by Apple and Android to curb violent propaganda disseminated by the terror group.
By JNS
Several of Hamas’s official propaganda channels have been made inaccessible for Telegram users who downloaded the application through the Apple App Store, the Zachor Legal Institute announced on Thursday, just days after Telegram did the same for Android users.
The messaging platform has blocked iPhone users from viewing at least four Hamas-linked accounts, JNS independently verified on Thursday. When trying to access the channels, a message pops up saying: “Unfortunately, this channel couldn’t be displayed on your device.”
“We are happy to announce that Apple has instructed Telegram to disable specific Hamas channels for iOS (Apple) downloaded via the Apple Store App,” stated the Zachor Legal Institute, a U.S.-based NGO that fights against antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel.
In a missive sent on Wednesday, Zachor had advised the tech giant that “under the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls regulations, Hamas and its affiliates are blocked from conducting any business with United States persons.”
“We respectfully request that Apple investigate these Hamas channels on Telegram downloaded via the Apple App Store and, if you find that the use of these channels by a United States designated foreign terror organization violates your own rules or applicable laws, terminate any use, whether direct or indirect, of the App Store by Hamas and its affiliates,” the NGO wrote.
Telegram has served as one of the primary platforms for Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip to disseminate their propaganda in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror assault on Jewish communities in southern Israel.
At least 1,400 people were killed in the cross-border invasion, in which Hamas terrorists raped, tortured and butchered men, women and children. In addition, at least 224 hostages were taken by Hamas back to Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the IDF said it had uncovered the true identity of Abu Obeida, the Hamas propaganda chief who has never shown his face to the public.
Israel took the step after Abu Obeida released a statement on Telegram calling on Muslims worldwide to “mobilize and march to the borders of Palestine, unite and [do] everything in their power to overthrow the Zionist project [Israel].
“We are ready for a long battle with this occupier, as our goal in this battle is sacred and great,” the terror spokesman stated, claiming that “the enemy [Israel] today is at its worst [condition] in 75 years.”
“Hudhayfah Kahlot, you have been exposed,” Col. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab-media division in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), sharing a video revealing Abu Obeida’s face.
“He and other Hamas-ISIS leaders like to hide inside tunnels and behind women and children, as well as behind masks and shadows. … It is time to stop covering up. The mask and keffiyeh will not help you,” emphasized Adraee.