Al Wasat Media and Publishing Company

Felesteen (Arabic: فلسطين, lit. “Palestine”) is a Gaza-based Arabic-language daily newspaper and digital news outlet published by Al-Wasat Media and Publishing Company (Al-Wasat lil-I’lam wal-Nashr). The newspaper was founded in 2006, with its first issue published in Gaza City on 3 May 2007, and has historically been described as one of the most widely read Gaza-based dailies. Felesteen is widely characterised by Israeli sources, Fatah-linked sources and independent observers as Hamas-aligned or pro-Hamas, while the newspaper’s formal publishing structure is a private company rather than a public authority.

Media assets

Publishing and digital news: Felesteen, the Gaza-based Arabic-language newspaper and online news outlet. Historically published as a broadsheet daily distributed in the Gaza Strip, Felesteen now relies heavily on its website, online edition and social-media channels amid wartime constraints on physical print infrastructure and distribution

Digital and distribution channels: Felesteen’s website at felesteen.news, online edition, article archive, multimedia output and social-media presence. Current regular print circulation during the 2025/26 wartime revie

Ownership and governance

Felesteen is published by Al-Wasat Media and Publishing Company (Al-Wasat lil-I’lam wal-Nashr), a private entity established to publish and distribute the newspaper. According to SMM-retained expert sources and local media professionals consulted in prior cycles, the company has been linked to entrepreneurs and media figures close to Hamas. No transparent documentation of governance structures, board appointments or public accountability mechanisms was identified by SMM during the 2025/26 review.

The newspaper’s institutional structure reflects its origins as a Hamas-aligned alternative to Palestinian Authority and Fatah-controlled dailies, intended at launch to compete with Al-Quds, Al-Hayat al-Jadida and Al-Ayyam in reaching Palestinian audiences across both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Its distribution history also reflects this political alignment: Felesteen was barred from distribution in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem for several years after the 2007 Fatah-Hamas split, before being allowed to circulate again in 2014 following the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement.

Felesteen was founded by Mustafa al-Sawaf, a veteran Palestinian journalist who served as editor-in-chief at launch in 2007 and was later identified as a former editor-in-chief in regional reporting. Al-Sawaf was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Gaza City on 18 November 2023, alongside members of his family. The original Chairman of the Board at launch was reported to be Dr Ahmed Sa’ati, a lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza. The current editor-in-chief and chair or board leadership during the 2025/26 SMM review period could not be independently verified by SMM in light of the continuing disruption to Gaza-based media leadership structures and the broader operational pressures of the Gaza war.

Source of funding and budget

No official or audited financial disclosures regarding Felesteen’s revenue streams have been made public. According to SMM-retained expert sources and local journalists and regional media experts consulted between December 2023 and April 2024, the newspaper is principally financed through Hamas-linked or Hamas-aligned institutional arrangements rather than through transparent commercial advertising or subscription revenue. The precise donor sources and funding channels remain opaque.

No standalone 2025/26 budget disclosure for Felesteen or Al-Wasat Media and Publishing Company was identified by SMM during the cycle, and no audited public financial reports or independent oversight mechanisms exist for the newspaper’s operations. This absence of transparent disclosure is consistent with the broader opacity of Hamas-aligned institutional financial arrangements.

Editorial independence

Felesteen exhibits no hallmarks of editorial autonomy from Hamas’s political and ideological objectives. According to SMM-retained expert sources and local and international media analysts consulted during prior cycles, the newspaper’s editorial tone and content are closely aligned with the positions of the de facto Hamas-led authority in Gaza, routinely amplifying its viewpoints and avoiding sustained criticism of its policies. While the paper has covered general civic and social issues, it has not provided significant space for opposition or dissenting perspectives regarding Hamas governance.

AI and digital policy

Felesteen has not published a public-facing institutional AI governance policy, and the broader operational context of Hamas-aligned media in Gaza is shaped by survival pressures, infrastructure destruction and political-military control rather than by digital-governance frameworks. The newspaper’s principal digital and technical adaptations during the cycle have been resilience-focused, including continued operation of the felesteen.news website, online edition and social-media distribution channels amid the destruction or disruption of physical print infrastructure.

Classification rationale

Felesteen remains classified as Captured Private (CaPr) for the 2026 cycle. The newspaper is published by a private entity, Al-Wasat Media and Publishing Company, but its editorial direction is aligned with the political and ideological objectives of Hamas as the de facto governing authority in parts of the Gaza Strip, its funding is opaque and identified by SMM-retained expert sources as linked to Hamas-aligned institutional arrangements rather than transparent commercial revenue, and it has no statutory editorial-independence guarantee, independent oversight body or arm’s-length editorial firewall. The 2025/26 cycle produced no governance, funding or editorial reform sufficient to move Felesteen out of the CaPr category.

June 2026