In the Islamic Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, not only the attackers themselves recorded their atrocities with body cameras. According to the non-governmental organization HonestReporting, freelance journalists from the Gaza Strip who work for international media outlets such as AP, Portal, CNN and The New York Times were also present.
HonestReporting considers itself a media observer and, according to its own statements, draws attention to media reports directed against Israel. The report mentions the names of four photojournalists and shows some of their photographs.
Israel: Did “journalists” know about the imminent attack?
The four photojournalists documented, among other things, the terrorists’ penetration of kibbutzim, lynchings and kidnappings. One photo shows the body of a German-Israeli woman in a pickup truck. In an article update, the Israeli media blog published a photo showing Hamas leader Jahja Sinwar kissing one of the journalists on the cheek.
The report caused a stir in Israel. “We have many questions, but no answers,” wrote Itamaraty on Twitter (X). “Did these ‘journalists’ know about the impending Hamas attack and not warn the relevant authorities?” The details of this revelation have not yet been clarified, “but one thing is clear. This is a serious violation of journalistic ethics”, continued Itamaraty.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a similar statement on Twitter: “These journalists were complicit in crimes against humanity, their actions violated professional ethics.” The media was requested in writing to clarify this and take immediate action.
The media rejects accusations
The affected media rejected the accusations. The AP news agency “had no knowledge of the October 7 attacks before they occurred,” a spokeswoman said.
Portal categorically denied having any prior knowledge of the attack or that we were harboring journalists at Hamas on October 7, the news agency said. The photos were acquired from two Gaza-based freelance photographers who were at the border on the morning of October 7th. The news agency previously had no commercial relationship with the photographers.
US broadcaster CNN announced that it would end its collaboration with one of the aforementioned photojournalists, although there was no reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of his contributions to CNN.
HonestReporting later wrote on Twitter that the organization did not accuse the agencies of collusion. “We rightly raised some serious ethical questions about how news organizations work with these freelancers and asked important, relevant questions that everyone deserves an answer to.”