An onslaught by Arab media outlets against the Hamas movement has gained momentum in the wake of the escalation of the Gulf-Qatar crisis.

On June 8, the spokesman for the Libyan National Army led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, Ahmad al-Mesmari, accused Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, of training extremist members in Libya in the methods of booby-trapping and bombing.

At a June 8 press conference in Tripoli, Mesmari showed video footage of training and educational materials — on how to manufacture explosive devices and use machine guns — which he said belonged to members of the al-Qassam Brigades and which were allegedly found in the possession of captured extremist members in the Libyan city of Benghazi. He also accused the al-Qassam Brigades of providing technical assistance to terrorists on Libyan territory.

Hamas denied and rebuked all of these accusations. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Al-Monitor, “These fabricated allegations by the spokesman of the Hifter forces aim to tarnish the reputation of the Palestinian resistance, which is defending the Palestinian people against Israel.”