The most irritating thing about the Hamas government’s decision to ban Palestinian journalists in Gaza from working for Israeli media outlets is what the decision implies: The journalists have been turned into collaborators, at least from the perspective of the Palestinian public.

They’re called “stringers” in the professional jargon. In fact, they are professional journalists who work part-time reporting from “the inside” for some external media outlet. What they most frequently provide is first-person coverage about events taking place around them. They have proven themselves to be indispensable, especially in situations when there is no possibility of outside journalists entering the region, just as it is the case in Gaza. In those circumstances, they become the lone voice able to tell the real story of what is happening there.

In an interview with Al-Monitor’s reporter in Gaza, Rami Almeghari, the head of the Hamas press office Ihab al-Ghosain explained the decision by insinuating that the articles published by those journalists were used by Israeli intelligence.

In all honesty, I know nothing about the quality or quantity of information that Israeli intelligence could derive from those journalists. I do, however, have a strong feeling that “Israeli intelligence” has a serious problem if it is dependent on their reports. The reason is simple. The actual number of such reports is miniscule. For the most part, the Israeli media lost interest in Gaza and its people. Israelis tend to be indifferent, turning their attention to Gaza only in the midst of some military operation or other, like the one that occurred there last month. Any empathy Israelis might have felt toward the residents of Gaza has long since disappeared. For many Israelis, the land beyond the Erez Checkpoint and border crossing, just a 50-minute drive from Tel Aviv, is considered to be “Hamastan,” (Hamas land) far beyond the Ridge of Darkness.