“Hamas has put the national reconciliation and investing the interest of Palestinian nation on top of its agenda,” Hamas said in a statement to provide reasons behind closure of Ma’an and Saudi-owned Al Arabiya offices in Gaza after a decision taken by Palestinian general prosecution office.

Hamas officials said that the news outlets are closed temporarily and the employees of the channels are prevented to enter the building located in al-Ramal neighborhood in central Gaza.

“A struggle for gaining freedom and fight against Zionists is at the stake of a full-fledged fight against conspiracies to avoid supererogatory services to the Al-Quds occupiers,” the statement added.

“The two news outlets distribute false news regarding the smear campaign against Hamas and Gaza."

At the same time, Hamas government lauded other news channels for their services, saying that “Palestinians would like these media continue to cover truth and realities on the ground.”

According to Palestinian Ministry of Information, Hamas government has warned for several times against false reports and spreading rumors in the name of Hamas officials but the alerts went unnoticed and the forbidden news outlets continued to spread false stories.

“We will not let any media outlet to escalate relation between Hamas and other governments,” Hamas said in the statement.

The Gaza-based Hamas government came under furious attacks by Egyptian media, blaming Gazan officials for intervening in Egyptian internal affairs and providing assistance to Egypt Muslim Brotherhood.

The Saudi based Al-Arabiya and the Fatah affiliated Ma’an News Agency bureau overwhelmingly cover such reports which are denounced by Hamas officials.

MRKD/NJF