Two international news agencies and The New York Times have denied claims in a viral report alleging that photojournalists may have had prior knowledge of Hamas’ attacks in Israel last month and even possibly “coordinated” with the militant group in order to document the carnage.
An article published by HonestReporting Tuesday asked how photographers working for the Associated Press and Reuters were able to be at the breached border fence between Gaza and Israel early in the early morning of Oct. 7 as Hamas gunmen launched their assault. The article said the journalists’ presence “raises serious ethical questions” and asked if it was conceivable that the reporters were there “without prior coordination with the terrorists? Or were they part of the plan?”
The article from an HonestReporting—a press watchdog headquartered in New York City which aims to “combat ideological prejudice in journalism and the media, as it impacts Israel”—attracted the attention of the Israeli government.
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On Thursday, Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi published an open letter addressed to the AP, Reuters, CNN, and the Times (the HonestReporting piece claimed a pair of journalists at the breached border freelance for CNN and the Times).
“I write to you with deep concern regarding recent reports about your employees’ alleged involvement in the tragic events in southern Israel, where Hamas-ISIS terrorists carried out a heinous massacre,” Karhi wrote. “It has come to our attention that certain individuals within your organization, including photographers and others, had prior knowledge of these horrific actions and may have maintained a troubling connection with the perpretrators.”
Karhi went on to request that the media outlets conduct investigations into the matter. “The gravity of the situation demands a swift and thorough response,” he added.
The Times blasted the “untrue and outrageous” assertion that any of their staff received forewarning about the attacks, and said that was no evidence to support the accusations.
“It is reckless to make such allegations, putting our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza at risk,” the outlet said in a statement.
The HonestReporting report implied that freelance photographer Yousef Masoud, who contributed to the Times in the wake of the attack, may have had forewarning given his proximity to the conflict early on. The Times said it reviewed his work and found “no evidence for Honest Reporting’s insinuations.”
“He was doing what photojournalists always do during major news events, documenting the tragedy as it unfolded. We are gravely concerned that unsupported accusations and threats to freelancers endangers them and undermines work that serves the public interest.”
In a statement, the Associated Press also denied having any knowledge of the Oct. 7 attacks before they happened. “The role of the AP is to gather information on breaking news events around the world, wherever they happen, even when those events are horrific and cause mass casualties. AP uses images taken by freelancers around the world, including in Gaza,” a spokesperson said, according to Ynet.
CNN told the Ynet it had cut ties with Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance photojournalist whom the AP credited on pictures showing a burning Israeli tank at the Gaza border and later photographed Hamas infiltrators entering a kibbutz. HonestReporting also shared a video allegedly showing Eslaiah standing alongside the burning tank without wearing a press vest or helmet, as well as another image purportedly showing him being kissed on the cheek by Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza.
“We are aware of the article and photo concerning Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance photojournalist who has worked with a number of international and Israeli outlets,” a CNN spokesperson was quoted as saying by Ynet. “While we have not at this time found reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work he has done for us, we have decided to suspend all ties with him.”
The HonestReporting article also claimed two Reuters photojournalists “happened to be at the border just in time for Hamas’ infiltration.” One of them, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, also captured a picture showing “a lynch mob brutalizing the body of an Israeli soldier who was dragged out of the tank,” the article said, a censored version of which Reuters then featured as one of its “Images of the Day.”
On Thursday, Reuters said it was aware of the allegations against two freelance photographers. “Reuters categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas on Oct. 7,” the news agency said.
Reuters went on to explain that it acquired photos from “two Gaza-based freelance photographers who were at the border on the morning of Oct. 7,” and that the agency didn’t have a prior relationship with either of them. “The photographs published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets across southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said gunmen had crossed the border,” Reuters added, saying its staff journalists “were not on the ground at the locations referred to in the HonestReporting article.”
