This Thursday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s press office requested explanations from the heads of delegations in Israel from CNN television, the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters news agencies, as well as the New York Times newspaper, after verifying that “four photographers who work for these networks documented “the horrors perpetrated by Hamas terrorists after they crossed the fence” separating the Gaza Strip from Israeli territory on October 7.
For this government body, the presence of these organs’ journalists alongside Hamas militants who have killed and kidnapped hundreds of Israeli and foreign citizens “exceeds all professional and moral limits.”
The government’s position comes after Honest Reporting, which regularly analyzes how the press covers current events in Israel, found that “four names appeared in AP photographs” in the border area between Israel and the Gaza Strip on October 7. According to the organization, these are Hassan Eslaya, Youssef Masoud, Ali Mahmoud and Hatem Ali. CM Like other Gaza journalists, they are seasoned professionals who work freelance for various media outlets around the world.
While monitoring the Hamas incursion, journalists did not wear the usual bulletproof vests labeled “press.” Hassan Eslaya, according to an investigation by Honest Reporting, a “freelancer” who “also works for CNN, crossed the border into Israel, photographed a burning Israeli tank, and then captured [imagens de] “HonestReporting is publishing screenshots of tweets that have since been deleted from Eslaya’s social media page,” the report said: “Live from Gaza settlements.” The investigation also reveals that Eslaya appears on the same social network “with a Hamas leader and the organizer of the October 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar.”
More harshly, the Benjamin Netanyahu administration’s Foreign Office found that “these journalists were complicit in crimes against humanity,” accusing them of acting “contrary to professional ethics.”
AP and Reuters deny preliminary information
This Thursday, the AP responded to the allegations by denying any prior knowledge of the October 7 attack. “AP’s role is to capture news and images of events happening around the world at any time, even when they are horrific and involve casualties,” said agency spokeswoman Nicole Meyer. “AP uses photographs from freelancers from around the world, including Gaza,” Meyer added.
Reuters also denies having any knowledge of Hamas’s activities. “Reuters purchased the photographs from two freelance photographers from Gaza who were at the border on the morning of October 7 and with whom it had no relationship. [profissional] The photos published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets into southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said armed men had crossed the border.