Al-Hadath attends Israeli military briefing, sparks debate on Saudi media's stance

Saudi news channel Al Hadath has stirred controversy after letting one of its correspondents attend an exhibition by the Israeli army where it showcased what it claims are weapons it confiscated in southern Lebanon.

It is not clear whether the exhibition took place in Lebanon or in Israel.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government had already slammed Western media outlets earlier this week which allowed their journalists to embed with the Israeli military during a press tour in an unnamed south Lebanon village.

The press tour was seen as an attack on Lebanese sovereignty and laws, and a gross violation of journalism ethics and standards.

In a news report just over a minute long, Al Hadath correspondent Rafah al-Saad is seen stood among a large quantity of different weapons allegedly belonging to Hezbollah that the Israeli military claimed it confiscated during its incursions into border villages.

The weapons include anti-tank missiles, guns, grenades and other arms.

While Hezbollah says it has stopped Israeli troops from advancing deep into southern Lebanon, the Israeli forces claim to have destroyed several installations belonging to the Shia armed group, detonating their tunnels, and capturing at least four of their fighters.

The Al Hadath news report appeared to adopt the Israeli narrative without questioning claims made by their military.

"A third of the weapons found were Iranian made," the report claimed, citing the Israeli army, which also claims that it found documents "proving" that Hezbollah was planning a 7 October-like attack on Israel, similar to when the Palestinian Hamas group attacked southern Israel on that date last year and sparked the Gaza war.

The New Arab reached out to Al Hadath and its mother company MBC for comment.

Saudi media and the Israeli narrative

On Saturday, protesters  in Iraq ransacked the offices of Saudi-owned TV channel MBC then set fire to part of it after the broadcaster aired a report calling leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah as "terrorists". This prompted Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Media Regulation (Gmedia) to attempt to contain the situation and refer officials at the channel for investigation for potential violations of the Kingdom’s media regulations and policies.

But like most Saudi state-linked media, Al Hadath and its sister channel Al Arabiya have been known for their hostile reporting on Hezbollah.

Some commentators have accused the two channels to be mouthpieces for Israel and even directly coordinating with the Israeli army and intelligence to obtain information.

Under a YouTube video of Saad’s report from the Israeli army exhibition, dozens of comments attacked Al Hadath calling it a "Zionist" news channel.

Since the year-long fighting between Israel and Hezbollah spiralled into a full-blown last month, Al Arabiya has repeatedly hosted a Shia cleric that has caused outrage among Hezbollah’s popular base.

Sayyed Mohammed Ali al-Husseini regularly appears onto the show 'Sa'at Hiwar' (an hour of dialogue) and "predicts" what will happen next in Lebanon and the region.

Days before Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated for example, he warned the Hezbollah leader of his demise asking him to write his will.

He cited unnamed "sources" behind his revelations.

Hezbollah’s supporters and other viewers have slammed Al-Husseini as being an Israeli agent.

Other television moments have caused legal problems for Al Arabiya’s hosts in their home countries.

Days after the start of the Gaza war, news anchor Layal Alekhtiar hosted Arabic spokesman for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, via teleconference.

It caused a storm in her country Lebanon which prohibits its citizens from interacting with Israelis, and she has faced lawsuits there.

While Saudi Arabia does not officially have ties with Israel, the Saudi news channels have not been banned from producing such news reports.

Washington has been mediating talks between Riyadh and Tel Aviv to reach a normalisation deal. The US was poised to reach a security arrangement with Saudi Arabia in return of the kingdom recognising Israel.

But the talks were put on hold when the war on Gaza began more than a year ago, and Saudi Arabia has said it will only normalise relations with Israel if a Palestinian statehood is recognised.

Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right Israeli coalition government have outright rejected a Palestinian state of any kind.