Photographers Without Borders: AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions
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.
AP: Photojournalists or Infiltrators?
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.
HonestReporting has 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: Lynching as “Image of the Day”
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.
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About the Author: Patriotman
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GUNS N GEAR
Are these non-HAMAS unarmed Palestinians taking part in the kidnapping and slaughter the “innocent civilians” being killed in Gaza?
It’s guerilla warfare. It’s success is always predicated on the opinion of the people, both inside and outside their territory for supply, recruiting, and international diplomatic pressure. Of course Hamas has a propaganda wing. Of course journalists employed by the AP and based in Gaza are part of that propaganda effort. It’s just a little sloppy of them to have those of their number employed by the AP, and actively engaged in an operation. They could have had those men take their photos and release them as anonymously sourced photos, possibly picked up after the fact and taken by the terrorists themselves. Doing it this way out’s their propaganda creators as such, and reduces the future value of their connections to the AP.