The pro-Israel media “watchdog” behind the hyper-viral story suggesting Palestinian journalists knew in advance about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack now claims it was merely “raising questions” and has no evidence to back up that suggestion.
HonestReporting, an organization that says its mission is to “combat ideological prejudice in journalism and the media” as it relates to Israel and Zionism, published a report this week accusing photojournalists working for legacy media outlets of possibly coordinating with Hamas militants during the deadly attacks.
“What were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet Saturday morning?” the story noted. “Was it coordinated with Hamas? Did the respectable wire services, which published their photos, approve of their presence inside enemy territory, together with the terrorist infiltrators?”
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Gil Hoffman, executive director of HonestReporting, told the Associated Press that he had no proof to support the insinuation that the organization was making, adding that he was satisfied with the denials that several outlets and journalists have made in the wake of the story.
“They were legitimate questions to be asked,” he said, noting that, “We don’t claim to be a news organization” despite the organization naming itself HonestReporting.
Hoffman also groused that “some people with an agenda” had made HonestReporting look bad by acting as “if we were stating facts instead of asking questions.” Patting himself on the back, he added: “We raised questions and it led the media outlets to clarify the truth.”
The story immediately set off condemnations from Israeli and U.S. government officials and politicians, with several even suggesting that the journalists in question should be killed. The news organizations implicated in the claims—Reuters, CNN, the AP, and The New York Times—all issued statements categorically denying that the journalists had advanced knowledge of the gruesome attack that killed 1,400 Israelis.
On Thursday, Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi called on the news outlets to investigate their “employees’ alleged involvement in the tragic events in southern Israel,” adding that the journalists “had prior knowledge of these horrific actions and may have maintained a troubling connection with the perpetrators.”
Calling the accusation “untrue and outrageous” that any of their journalists coordinated with Hamas, the Times also said that such allegations put more reporters at risk in Gaza and Israel. The Times used photographs by Yousef Masoud, whose photos of a burning Israeli tank were also published by the AP.
“This is the essential role of a free press in wartime,” the paper said. “We are gravely concerned that unsupported accusations and threats to freelancers endangers them and undermines work that serves the public interest.”
Reuters, meanwhile, denied that it embedded journalists with Hamas on Oct. 7, explaining that it acquired photos that day from “two Gaza-based freelance photographers who were at the border.” Noting the outlet had no prior relationship with the two journalists, Reuters added that the photographs it published “were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets across southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said gunmen had crossed the border.”
While the news organizations stood by the work of the photojournalists and strongly pushed back on any insinuation that they coordinated with Hamas terrorists, both the AP and CNN cut ties with Hassan Eslaiah after HonestReporting released a years-old picture of Eslaiah being kissed by Hamas leader Yehia Sinwar.
“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,” a CNN spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, former Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz and Israel’s former UN ambassador Danny Danon condemned the journalists spotlighted by HonestReporting’s story, saying they “are no different from terrorists and should be treated as such.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a strong condemnation in the wake of the report, saying “these journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity” and demanding “that immediate action be taken.”
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas War, at least 39 members of the press have been killed while covering the conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, marking the deadliest month for the press since the committee started keeping track.
With so much attention now being paid to Israel’s military response in Gaza, which has led to over 11,000 Palestinian deaths, Hoffman told the AP that his goal was to bring more attention back to the Oct. 7 attacks.
“We raised questions and it led the media outlets to clarify the truth,” he declared. “Great, that’s what we do.”
