Israel tightens rules against documentation of Iranian missile attacks

The Israeli military censor chief, General Kobi Mandelblit, ordered on Wednesday to take legal action against citizens and media outlets that publish or distribute material related to Iranian missile strikes or impact sites.

The order requires “any person who prints or publishes printed matter or a publication regarding the location of a strike or hit by enemy war materiel, including missiles of any kind and UAVs, in the media or online (including social media, blogs and chats, etc.)” to submit it to the military censor for approval before it is published.

The decision comes amid rising security tensions over violations of military censorship instructions during the ongoing confrontations. The violations included documenting and publishing images of impact sites and casualty figures, as well as revealing the locations of military bases and air defence systems, and circulating classified information without prior permission from the relevant censorship authorities.

According to military sources, one of the “most serious cases” was the circulated information regarding the ballistic missile strike that targeted the Bazan Industrial Complex.

Legal sources confirmed that the new order provides the Israeli occupation authorities with more effective tools to pursue violators and enhances the state’s ability to bring them to justice, given the relevant authorities’ awareness of the direct threat posed by the publication of such documents to state security.

READ: Iran says Fattah missiles show full control over Israeli airspace