The Israeli association HonestReporting released photos of Palestinian journalists covering the Hamas attack on October 7 and questions their presence: “Was it coordinated with Hamas?” These insinuations went viral, even causing the Israeli Prime Minister to react. To date, however, there is no indication that these journalists were informed about being recruited by the Palestinian organization.
“What were Palestinian journalists doing so early on a Saturday morning near the border? Was it coordinated with Hamas?”. These are the questions raised by the Israeli association HonestReporting in an article posted on its website Wednesday November 8 and entitled “Broken Borders: AP and Reuters Photos of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions”.
This association created around ten years ago – and ideologically close to the current Israeli government – cites the names of several Palestinian photojournalists and wonders if they were not “infiltrators”. These doubts expressed by the association were relayed to the Israeli Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu demanded accountability from Western media that published these photos or worked with these journalists, including New York TimesAssociated Press and Reuters. “These journalists were complicit in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics”, reacted the office of the Israeli Prime Minister.
There is no indication that they knew
Do we know if these Palestinian journalists were warned by Hamas of the attack? We can’t know for sure, but there is no indication so far that they knew. The images published by journalist Hassan Eslaiah are those that have been shared the most. He is notably the author of a photo in which we see an Israeli tank on fire, he also shot a video where he appears to be advancing on a motorcycle behind attackers and where we see an arm holding a grenade.
Franceinfo was able to examine the Telegram feed of this journalist, who is very active on this messaging service where he is followed by nearly 600,000 people. On the morning of October 7, Hassan Eslaiah posted a first message at 6:41 a.m. local time, shortly after the attack began. He then shares a video in which we see rockets in the sky. In explanations provided to our colleagues at Libération, Hassan Eslaiah assures that these images were filmed from his home and that the sound of these rockets is precisely what alerted him. In the two hours that followed, he shared other images collected on social networks and it was not until 8:30 a.m., approximately two hours after the attack began, that he posted the first image he itself turns on the ground: that of the Israeli tank on fire.
Hassan Eslaiah then continues the messages and videos: a kibbutz on fire, a video where we hear heavy gunfire seeming to come from members of Hamas, difficult images of the bodies of inert civilians bathed in blood. A few hours later, he posted videos of himself on a motorcycle where he described what he saw, including the attackers who “are in settlements near the Gaza Strip”. Concerning the images where he advances on a motorcycle and where we see a grenade, Hassan Eslaiah, still to our colleagues at Releaseexplain : “There were three of us on the motorbike, one of them in the middle was carrying a grenade found in combat zones.”
HonestReporting also shared a photo in which Hassan Eslaiah is kissed on the cheek by a Hamas leader. On this subject, the journalist assures Release as it’s about a “old photo that was circulating” and that “was due to [son] work as a Palestinian journalist with access to leaders of various Palestinian factions”.
Reuters and AP categorically deny
The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies completely refute the idea that they had knowledge of the Hamas attack. They claim that the images they received were taken one to two hours after the attack began, which corresponds to the elements visible on social networks. However, the American agency AP and the American channel CNN specify that they will no longer work with Hassan Eslaiah.
For his part, the New York Times estimate that “the accusation that anyone New York Times would have known in advance of the Hamas attacks or would have accompanied Hamas terrorists during these attacks is false and scandalous” and assures that he “there is no proof of the insinuations”, remembering that it is “reckless to make such allegations, endangering our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza.”
The Israeli site HonestReporting reacted recently through its executive director, Gil Hoffman. The latter admitted to AP that the group had no evidence to support its suggestions. He also said he was satisfied with the explanations provided by the Western media.