Israel minister accuses Gaza-based journalists of having prior knowledge of Hamas attack

All four media outlets have categorically denied the allegations

Israel’s communications minister accused Gaza-based journalists of four western media outlets of having “prior knowledge” of the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

The accusations were levelled against journalists of the New York Times, Reuters, CNN, and the Associated Press. All of the four organisations have categorically denied the allegations.

In a letter to these organisations, Shlomo Karhi claimed that the journalists, including photojournalists, “may have maintained a troubling connection with the perpetrators”. He added: “It is alleged that some of your employees were present, documenting these horrors, effectively becoming participants in this horrifying event”.

The New York Times in its statement said there was “no evidence” to support such claims about its freelancer in Gaza. “The accusation that anyone at The New York Times had advance knowledge of the Hamas attacks or accompanied Hamas terrorists during the attacks is untrue and outrageous. It is reckless to make such allegations, putting our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza at risk.”

Reuters said it “categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas on Oct 7”.

The Israeli government demanded clarifications from the four media outlets after an article titled “Broken Borders: AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions” was published by Honest Reporting. This website claims to expose “anti-Israel media bias”.

The article claims that “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”.

Mr Karhi wrote on X: “Terrorists disguised as journalists? I demand immediate clarifications from the international media bodies published in the investigation.”

Reuters clarified in its statement: “Reuters acquired photographs from two Gaza-based freelance photographers who were at the border on the morning of Oct 7, with whom it did not have a prior relationship.

“The photographs published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets across southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said gunmen had crossed the border. Reuters staff journalists were not on the ground at the locations referred to in the Honest Reporting article.”

Associated Press also denied the claim that it had any “prior knowledge” of the Hamas attack. Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of AP, said: “It was a fast-moving development in a very small territory. We carried out a very typical news-gathering process when a big event, a big moment, is happening and we need to figure out what it is and inform the world about it.”

“We had no prior knowledge of the October 7th attacks,” a CNN spokesperson said.

However, the Associated Press and CNN said on Thursday that they would no longer work with one of the freelancers, Hassan Eslaiah, whose picture with the Hamas chief and allegedly the mastermind of the 7 October attacks was published by the pro-Israel media watchdog.

“Hassan Eslaiah, who was a freelance journalist working for us and many other outlets, was not working for the network on October 7th. As of today, we have severed all ties with him,” CNN said.