Media Exposed: Freelance Journalists Accompanied Hamas Terrorists During October 7th Attack on Israeli Citizens, Warnings Ignored

In a staggering revelation, a new media exposes that Gaza-based photojournalists affiliated with major U.S. media outlets (Associated Press (AP), Reuters, CNN, and The New York Times) were embedded with Hamas during the October 7th Islamic attacks in southern Israel. This prompts crucial questions about the journalists’ early presence, potential coordination with Hamas, and the media organizations’ approval, suggesting a possible prior knowledge of the attack. The absence of press identification and one journalist’s alleged deletion of evidence heighten these concerns.

The report calls attention to the historical ties between AP and Hamas, urging a renewed investigation into potential media complicity and emphasizing the ongoing use of a Hamas operative as a news source despite prior warnings, further underscoring the gravity of the situation.

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Honest Reporting is out with a bombshell of a story, revealing today that Gaza-based photojournalists of the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters, who also do contract work for CNN and The New York Times, were embedded with Hamas during their killing spree across southern Israel.

The report asks many compelling questions:

What were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet Saturday morning? 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? Did the photojournalists who freelance for other media, like CNN and The New York Times, notify these outlets? Judging from the pictures of lynching, kidnapping and storming of an Israeli kibbutz, it seems like the border has been breached not only physically, but also journalistically.

It seems plausible that these “journalists” had advance knowledge of the attack and did nothing to warn authorities of the planned massacre. Not only that, the photos and videos of that horrific day show that these photojournalists were embedded with Hamas without any apparel that identifies them as press.

It seems plausible that these “journalists” had advance knowledge of the attack and did nothing to warn authorities of the planned massacre. Not only that, the photos and videos of that horrific day show that these photojournalists were embedded with Hamas without any apparel that identifies them as press.

The report even documents that one of the men, Hassan Eslaiah, who works for AP and CNN, deleted evidence of his involvement in the assault, in which Eslaiah was dressed in plain clothes.

On X.com, a photo surfaced this evening of Eslaiah embracing Yahya Sinwar, the highest-ranking Hamas official in Gaza. Sinwar has been convicted of committing several murders and acts of terrorism.

While Reuters is based in London, The Associated Press, CNN, and The New York Times are all headquartered in the United States, where it is illegal to provide material support to Hamas because the jihadist group is listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The AP, for its part, has long had disturbingly cozy ties with Hamas in Gaza, having once shared an office space with the intelligence services of the jihadi group. Israeli forces demolished the building in 2021, sparking outrage among the usual suspects in the corporate media.

A couple of Reuters photographers were so serendipitously positioned that they were able to witness Hamas abducting innocent Israelis to be their hostages:

Masoud, who also works for The New York Times, was there as well —  just in time to set foot in Israeli territory and take more tank pictures.

Ali Mahmud and Hatem Ali were positioned to get pictures of the horrific abductions of Israelis into Gaza.

Mahmud captured the pickup truck carrying the body of German-Israeli Shani Louk and Ali got several shots of abductees being kidnapped into the Strip.

Reuters journalist Abu Mustafa managed to be in the right place to capture a shot of a Palestinian “lynch mob brutalizing the body of an Israeli soldier.” His employer even made his disturbing photo their “Image of the Day.”

Now, it’s certainly worth wondering whether these corporate media outfits could be implicated in a congressional and/or criminal investigation into the activities of their paid staffers and contractors in Gaza.

Dossier Today

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An AP freelancer commemorates the 10/7 massacre, despite the camera providing AP editors with a five-year advance warning of extremism

Five years ago, CAMERA presented evidence to the Associated Press that the news agency was relying on the photojournalism of someone who “openly identifies with Hamas’ political platform and is a rabid anti-Semite who praises terrorists and expresses joy over the murder of innocent and unarmed Israelis.” That someone was Hassan Eslayeh (also sometimes spelled Isleih and Eslaiah), a freelancer who has worked for Hamas-linked Quds TV. Eslayeh has continued to serve as a regular contributor to major international news outlets, including not only the Associated Press but also CNN.

In our 2018 article, we documented AP’s failure to disclose his association with the Hamas terrorist organization, even as the news service cited him as supposed independent verification of a dubious Hamas claim that Israel was responsible for the death of four-year-old Ahmed Abu Abed, reportedly fatally injured at a Gaza border clash. CAMERA’s Tamar Sternthal warned at the time, “When media outlets fail to disclose information about their sources, news consumers have valid concerns about the credibility of journalists presented as eyewitnesses.”

Sternthal’s warning was prescient, as Mr. Eslayeh was again used as a source by Western news companies during the October 7 Massacre. Below, we translate what he had to say on that terrible day. What you will find in his X/Twitter posts is not journalism but a celebration of carnage. He expresses exactly what we said five years ago, “joy over the murder of innocent and unarmed Israelis.” That news agencies continue to rely on a Hamas operative for their information, despite having been clearly warned by CAMERA that he is an extremist who cannot be treated as an impartial source, should be a wake-up call to both the media industry and the news consumers who count on it.

“Storming the Settlements” is a “Beautiful Thing”

Tweet: “An indescribable sight”

The translation for the first 10 seconds of the video (the relevant part) is as follows: “You know, the beautiful thing about storming the settlements: the civilians, the people, they go [out] on foot and come back driving, be it a motorcycle, a scooter or a car – [one can] grab and load trophies.” Watch:

Celebration of Hamas “Warriors”

Tweet: “Settlers hide inside a garbage container in fear of the warriors of al-Qassam battalions”

Israeli Deaths are a Divine Blessing

Tweet: “Our Lord bless” (as he receives more information about the attack).

Rocket War Crimes are “Resistance”

Tweet: “A rocket of the resistance directly hits a building in Ashqelon”

Israel is “The Occupation”; Hamas Terrorism is “Battle”

Tweet: “The occupation officially acknowledges that the number of Zionist deaths has risen to 200 and more than 1,100 wounded since the beginning of the battle.

Celebration of “Settlers” in Body Bags

Tweet: “Bodies of settlers killed by the fire of Gaza’s resistance fighters during the #alAqsaFloodBattle”

Dead Israelis Are “Settlers”

Tweet: “Cleared for publication: 15 settlers of the residents of the Netiv Ha’asara Kibbutz were killed at the hands of al-Qassam warriors”

Source: CAMERA