A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a lawsuit filed by three Israeli hostages against the Palestine Chronicle, a Washington-based news outlet, can advance to trial, denying the outlet’s motion to dismiss. The plaintiffs—Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov—were kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on the Nova Music Festival and held by Abdallah Aljamal, a Hamas operative and Gaza correspondent for the nonprofit site.

The hostages, rescued by the Israel Defense Forces from Aljamal’s home eight months later, allege the Palestine Chronicle knowingly paid Aljamal, a former Hamas spokesman, despite his role in their captivity. The outlet claimed it was unaware of Aljamal’s actions and that its payments had no impact on the hostages. However, Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright found these arguments “unpersuasive,” ruling that the plaintiffs presented a strong case for trial.

Cartwright noted that the hostages’ evidence suggests the Palestine Chronicle knew Aljamal was a Hamas operative after October 7, when Hamas’s hostage-taking in Gaza was widely known. She highlighted that Aljamal’s employment timeline and the outlet’s payments support a “reasonable inference” that the funds aided his role in the hostages’ captivity. The court also found that Aljamal’s work with the outlet included publishing “Hamas propaganda,” such as justifications for holding Israeli captives.