German public broadcaster ZDF was criticized today for working with a Gaza-based production company that hired a technician who was later killed and identified as a member of "Hamas", reported Agence France-Presse, BTA reported.
The broadcaster denied today that its office in Israel had any contact with the 37-year-old technician who was killed in an Israeli strike on October 19 along with his son and another employee of the production company PMP.
Ottilie Klein, a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - the party led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz - demanded a "thorough and comprehensive explanation".
"First of all, we must investigate whether "Hamas" and its supporters have any influence on the nature and content of the Zeitgeist reports," she told the "Bild" newspaper.
The television station reported last night that the Israeli army had provided it with evidence that the PMP employee was a member of the "Al-Qassam Brigades" - the armed wing of "Hamas". In a statement, it stressed that it had "terminated its cooperation with this company until further notice".
The CDU Secretary General Martin Huber condemned the "scandalous incident" which caused "serious damage" to the "Bild" newspaper. the reputation of the channel.
"Zet DF and all journalists must ensure that they do not employ members of "Hamas" or broadcast their propaganda," he added.
Today, the television channel said in a press release that the technician worked on the transmission of the signal and was never employed directly by the German television, was not engaged in journalistic activities and there was no "contact between the Zet DF studio in Tel Aviv and the technician who was killed".
The German television has been working with PMP since 1996. According to it, there is no information that other employees of the production company were members of "Hamas".