Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is outraged after discovering that several high-profile news organizations had photographers embedded with Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 massacre.
As the administration demanded answers, the Associated Press claimed to have no prior knowledge of the horrific attack. Over 1,400 Israelis, including hundreds of children and even babies, were slaughtered by the Palestinian terrorists.
AP photographers crossed the Gaza border fence with the Hamas attackers that day. An Israeli media watchdog group, Honest Reporting, noted Wednesday that the “journalists” freely mingled with the terrorists even as they shot and killed civilians they encountered.
Netanyahu Demands Answers from CNN, NYT, AP, Reuters, on Embedded Hamas Photographers https://t.co/OLqQFTe0Z3
— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) November 9, 2023
One photographer was filmed posing for selfies with Yahya Sinwar, the local Hamas leader now known as the “Butcher of Khan Younis.”
The freelance journalist, Hassan Esliaiah, was previously pictured receiving a kiss on the cheek from Sinwar. CNN cut ties with their photographer after the report but stood by his work for the leftist news outlet.
The network said early Thursday that it was “aware of the article and photo. While we have not at this time found reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work he has done for us, we decided to suspend all ties with him.”
Esliaiah also worked for the AP. He shared images on X, formerly Twitter, which are now deleted but showed him without standard press identification at the scene of one Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
The National Public Diplomacy Directorate released a statement condemning the unprofessional actions of those embedded. It declared that “these journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics.”
A letter was quickly sent to bureau chiefs demanding answers.
Dr. Shlomo Karhi, Israel’s Minister of Communications, slammed Reuters, the AP, CNN, and the New York Times for an egregious breach of ethics.
Shared on X, the letter declared “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.”
Karhi said the choice is between good and “depraved terrorism, inhumanity and evil.”
One of several controversial photographers, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, apparently came across the border with Hamas. His photo of the desecration of an Israeli soldier’s body was named by Reuters as one of its “Images of the Day.”
