The Israel Defense Forces published intelligence documents on Sunday, captured during operations in Gaza, that it said prove that the spokesperson for the Civil Defense Agency in the Strip is an “active terrorist” in Hamas and a member of the terror group’s military wing.

Mahmoud Basal “has served as a spokesperson for the Civil Defense for a long time and exploits his position to spread false and unverified information to international media outlets, falsely attributing war crimes to Israel and presenting distorted data,” the military said in a statement.

“This information has received media exposure worldwide and has severely distorted the reality on the ground,” the statement said.

The documents recovered by the IDF in Gaza show that Basal “is a terrorist in the Hamas terror group, and as part of his role, he serves the purposes of psychological warfare and propaganda,” according to the military.

The documents appeared to show Basal listed on a roster of operatives for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing.

The document requested that the listed individuals, who it said were working in civilian agencies and as civilian staff at the time, be transferred to military duties, noting that their expertise is needed and that they will be assigned according to their specialties.

In a clip published by the IDF, Basal can be seen being interviewed on television and quoted by prominent media outlets like CNN, The Guardian and The Washington Post.

A Google search of Basal’s name shows that many major English-language media outlets have cited his statements when reporting on casualties in Gaza.

The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists, many of whom were in civilian clothing, invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 53,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.