Did Palestinian journalists, working with prestigious Western media, "board" with Hamas on the morning of October 7? This was the accusation made by Israel in high places on Thursday in a tweet published on the official account of the Jewish state. "An article in HonestReporting reveals that three independent journalists, who work for major media outlets, accompanied Hamas terrorists across the border on October 7 and reported on the horrific massacre," the authorities said.
"If there were journalists who knew about the massacre, who remained silent and took pictures while children were being slaughtered, they are no different from terrorists and their punishment will be severe," Israeli Foreign Minister Benny Gantz threatened.
It all started with an article published Wednesday on the website HonestReporting, an organization that monitors anti-Israel bias in the media. The association questions the presence of photojournalists, based in Gaza, "early in the morning in the violated border area". And wondered: "Was it coordinated with Hamas? Did the respectable news agencies that published their photos endorse their presence in enemy territory, alongside the infiltrated terrorists? »
Six journalists indicted
HonestReporting implicates six journalists: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, Hatem Ali, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih. And, in turn, the media outlets that have published their photos or that solicit them more or less regularly: the Reuters and AP news agencies, the American newspaper New York Times and the American channel CNN.
Hassan Eslaiah, "a freelancer who also works for CNN," is accused of entering Israel "without a press vest or helmet," and therefore in civilian clothes, and of photographing Hamas members entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza. In his Facebook posts on October 7, Hassan Eslaiah can be seen in a white shirt, below in front of a burning Israeli tank.
And the Israeli newspaper Haaretz did use one of his photos to illustrate an article about the massacre committed in this kibbutz.
Screenshot Haaretz
On Facebook, his posts are so prolific that you can trace his morning to October 7. At 7:32 a.m. (local time), he posted a video presumably filmed from the roof of a building in Gaza, according to legend. The journalist zooms in on a white pick-up truck, carrying armed men in uniform. Another 4x4 follows them.
It was only an hour later that Hassan Eslaiah appeared to cross the border: he filmed Gazans who, like him, ran towards the destroyed fence and posted the video at 8:27 a.m. "live," the Facebook post said. The photo of him in front of the burning tank was published three minutes later.
While there is no evidence that the video was broadcast in real time, as the photojournalist can schedule his publications, we can see that the sun has risen. Hamas' assault on Israel began around 6:30 a.m. at dawn.
Embraced by Hamas leader
When contacted, Hassan Eslaiah did not respond to our requests. He told Libération that at the beginning of the attack, he was at home "in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip" and that he was woken up by rocket fire from his house. The journalist sent our colleagues photos of himself, taken on the roof of a building at 7:23 a.m. and 7:24 a.m. Regarding his outfit, Hassan Eslaiah says that he "didn't know yet that it was war and that he didn't have time to equip himself".
In an update of the article, HonestReporting also published a photograph of him with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. A photo shared by Hassan Eslaiah himself on Twitter on January 9, 2020.
In the hours following our expose, new material is still coming to light concerning Gazan freelance journalist Hassan Eslaiah whom both AP & CNN used on Oct. 7.
Here he is pictured with Hamas leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar. https://t.co/S9pXeIGaFq pic.twitter.com/RmEZU5RsM8
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 8, 2023
Questioned by Libération on this subject, the photographer said it was taken in 2018, during a meeting organized by Hamas with journalists. It has "no organizational or military affiliation with Hamas or other factions," he said.
According to him, this "old photo" was "due to [his] work as a Palestinian journalist with access to the leaders of various Palestinian factions." "I published it only to prove the authenticity of my journalistic reporting on what is happening within the movement and to help disseminate my journalistic work," he says.
AP and CNN end collaboration
On the day the article was published, Hassan Eslaiah reacted (in Arabic) on his Twitter account: "I am currently the subject of a major provocative campaign in the Hebrew media, after covering the ongoing war in Gaza. In the face of this systematic media provocation against me, I hold the relevant authorities accountable and refrain from targeting local media teams and news agencies operating in the Gaza Strip. »
Faced with the seriousness of the accusations, all the media outlets involved were quick to speak out. While there is no evidence that Hassan Eslaiah was aware of the October 7 operations, AP and CNN have decided to end their collaboration with him. "We had no prior knowledge of the October 7 massacres," CNN told Le Parisien. Hassan Eslaiah, who was a freelance journalist working for us and many other organizations, was not working for the channel on 7 October. To date, we have severed all ties with him. »
For its part, AP referred us to its press release: "The Associated Press had no knowledge of the October 7 attacks before they occurred. The first photos received by AP from an independent show they were taken more than an hour after the attacks began. Still, she adds, "We no longer work with Hassan Eslaiah, who was occasionally a freelancer for AP and other international news agencies in Gaza. (...) The PA's role is to gather information about current events around the world, wherever they occur, even when those events are horrific and claim many lives. »
Photos by Shani Louk
Hatem Ali photographed the kidnapping of some of the hostages. Le Parisien has in its photo library one of his photographs, dating from October 7 and showing the kidnapping of an elderly Israeli woman. According to Libération, this image was photographed around 8:30 a.m.
Of all the photos Le Parisien has seen, those of Ali Mahmud were taken the earliest: they are timestamped at 7:41 a.m. The photojournalist immortalized the body of German-Israeli Shani Louk lying in the back of a white pick-up truck.
"Ali Mahmud and Hatem Ali were positioned to take pictures of the horrific kidnappings of Israelis in Gaza," HonestReporting reported. While we have not been able to locate Hatem Ali's photos, those of Ali Mahmud would have been taken in the "Palestinian Territories", i.e. on the way back from the scene of the massacre, the caption says.
VIDEO. May Hayat returns to the scene of the Rave party attacked by Hamas
The New York Times, which collaborates with Yousef Masoud, has thrown its support behind the journalists, and is concerned about the insinuations: "The accusation that anyone in the New York Times had advance knowledge of the Hamas attacks or accompanied Hamas terrorists in these attacks is false and outrageous. It is reckless to make such allegations, endangering our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza," the US media outlet told Le Parisien.
"No evidence of HonestReporting's insinuations"
Indeed, Yousef Masoud's photos showing Palestinians on an Israeli tank were timestamped at 9:11 a.m. on the AP website, 2 hours and 40 minutes after the attacks began.
Photograph by Yousef Masoud, taken at 9:11 a.m. (AP screenshot)
"Even though Yousef wasn't working for The Times on the day of the attack, he's done important work for us since. There is no evidence of HonestReporting's insinuations, the spokeswoman said. (...) We also want to advocate for freelance photojournalists working in conflict zones, whose work often requires them to rush into danger to provide first-hand accounts and document important information. »
VIDEO. Palestinian journalist learns of colleague's death live in Gaza
In its response to Le Parisien, Reuters also denies the possible complicity of its two photographers, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih: "The photographs published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets into southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said gunmen had crossed the border. Reuters reporters were not on the ground at the locations mentioned in the HonestReporting article. »