The Honest Reporting media watchdog published a shocking investigation on Wednesday outlining how photographers working for the New York Times, AP, CNN, and Reuters were embedded with brutal Hamas terrorists from the first moments of the October 7th attack, and photographed atrocities, including the lynching of an IDF soldier’s body, abductions, and the abuse of dead bodies.

One graphic Reuters photo, which shows the lynching of an IDF soldier’s body, was actually chosen as one of their “Images of the Day!”

Read the shocking report below:

On October 7, Hamas terrorists were not the only ones who documented the war crimes they had committed during their deadly rampage across southern Israel. Some of their atrocities were captured by Gaza-based photojournalists working for the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies whose early morning presence at the breached border area raises serious ethical 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.

Four names appear on AP’s photo credits from the Israel-Gaza border area on October 7: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.

Eslaiah, a freelancer who also works for CNN, crossed into Israel, took photos of a burning Israeli tank, and then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza.

Honest Reporting obtained screenshots of Eslaiah’s now-removed tweets on X in which he documented himself standing in front of the Israeli tank. He did not wear a press vest or a helmet, and the Arabic caption of his tweet read: “Live from inside the Gaza Strip settlements.”

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.

Interestingly, the names of the photographers, which appear on other sources, have been removed from some of the photos on AP’s database. Perhaps someone at the agency realized it posed serious questions regarding their journalistic ethics.

Reuters has published pictures from two photojournalists who also happened to be at the border just in time for Hamas’ infiltration: Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih.

They both took pictures of a burning Israeli tank on the Israeli side of the border, but Abu Mustafa went further: He took photos of a lynch mob brutalizing the body of an Israeli soldier who was dragged out of the tank.

Reuters was kind enough to add a graphic warning to the photo caption, but it didn’t prevent editors from shamelessly labeling it as one of the “Images of the Day” on their editorial database.

It is now obvious that Hamas had planned its October 7 attack on Israel for a very long time: its scale, its brutal aims and its massive documentation have been prepared for months, if not years. Everything was taken into account — the deployments, the timing, as well as the use of bodycams and mobile phone videos for sharing the atrocities.

Is it conceivable to assume that “journalists” just happened to appear early in the morning at the border without prior coordination with the terrorists? Or were they part of the plan?

Even if they didn’t know the exact details of what was going to happen, once it unfolded did they not realize they were breaching a border? And if so, did they notify the news agencies? Some sort of communication was undoubtedly necessary — before, after or during the attack — in order to get the photos published.

Either way, when international news agencies decide to pay for material that has been captured under such problematic circumstances, their standards may be questioned and their audience deserves to know about it. And if their people on the ground actively or passively collaborated with Hamas to get the shots, they should be called out to redefine the border between journalism and barbarism.

Following the publication of the report, Honest Reporting added an update:

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

Meet Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance journalist for @CNN, @Reuters, @AP in this video 👇he’s on a motorbike, with a grenade in his hand, on his way to the Massacre of innocents in Israel.

#FreeGazaFromHamas seems to be about Hamas journalists too. pic.twitter.com/qUW4z0LRyG

— Yaari Cohen (@YaariCohen) November 9, 2023

In the wake of the report, senior Israeli officials expressed outrage and demanded that immediate action be taken.

The National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying that it “views with utmost gravity that photojournalists working with international media joined in covering the brutal acts of murder perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on October 7th in the communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip.”

“These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics. Overnight the GPO issued an urgent letter to the bureau chiefs of the media organizations that employed these photographers and sought clarifications on the matter. The National Public Diplomacy Directorate demands that immediate action be taken.”

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi sent a letter to the media outlets named by the report, stating: “The gravity of the situation demands a swift and thorough response. It is now time for individuals, journalists, institutions, unions, and organizations around the world to make a clear choice. We must decide whether we stand on the side of life and goodness or on the side of depraved terrorism, inhumanity, and evil.”

Minister Benny Gantz stated: “If there were journalists who knew about the massacre, who remained silent and took pictures while children were being massacred – they are no different from the terrorists and their verdict is the same.”

The Jerusalem Press Club responded to the report by stating: “If indeed representatives of news agencies and significant networks were aware in advance of the expected massacre, it raises initial concerns about complicity in a crime or failure to prevent the murder. The investigation raises difficult ethical questions, not only about the behavior of those on the ground but also of the network and news agency executives. The question is whether they knew about Hamas’s intent and still gave it their tacit approval.”

“We urge them to conduct a thorough investigation to examine what they knew before the massacre and whether a different course of action on their part could have saved the lives of many innocent people. We demand that they publish their findings as soon as possible, just as they disseminated the reports and horrific images.”

IntelliTimes responded to the report by stating: “This isn’t photojournalism or war photography but is documentation of war crimes and terrorism while identifying with the perpetrator. History judged these photographers after the victory over the Nazis.”

זה לא נקרא צלם חדשות וגם לא צלם מלחמות אלא מתעד פשעי מלחמה וטרור המזוהה עם המבצע. ההיסטוריה שפטה את הצלמים הללו אחרי הנצחון על הנאצים. pic.twitter.com/RQ1R5MfwRa

— אינטלי טיימס – إنتل تايمز – Intelli Times (@IntelliTimes) November 9, 2023

Following the publication of the article, CNN issued a statement saying that it has “decided to suspend all ties with Hassan Eslaiah.”

“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. 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.”

HonestReporting responded by stating: “Not employing journalists who appear to be complicit in a massacre is the absolute lowest bar. Regardless of ‘accuracy.'”

AP responded by stating: “The Associated Press had no 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.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)