The pro-Israel NGO HonestReporting has made extremely serious allegations against Reuters and the Associated Press, suggesting that they knew in advance of the October 7 Hamas attack and coordinated with the Islamist organization.

Reuters responded by rejecting the idea that it knew about the attack, and said it had only bought the photos from two freelance photojournalists with whom it had no previous connection. The Associated Press also responded, saying it “knew nothing about the October 7 attacks before they happened.”

What the pro-Israel NGO says:

“On October 7, Hamas terrorists were not the only ones to document the war crimes they committed during their deadly raid on 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 in the open border area raises serious ethical concerns,” HonestReporting said.

Questions from HonestReporting:

• What were they doing there so early on what would normally be a quiet Saturday morning?
• Was (everything) agreed with Hamas?
• Did the respectable news agencies that released their photos condone their presence in enemy territory alongside infiltrating terrorists?
• Were these agencies reported by photojournalists who worked as freelancers for other media outlets such as CNN and The New York Times?

“Judging by the images of lynchings, kidnappings and the storming of an Israeli kibbutz, it seems that the border has been violated not only physically, but also from a journalistic point of view,” the NGO accuses.

How Reuters reacted to insinuations:

In a statement released in response to a story by HonestReporting, the international news organization Reuters on Thursday denied any suggestion that it had prior knowledge of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and soldiers.

“We are aware of HonestReporting’s materials and the allegations against two freelance photographers involved in Reuters’ coverage of the October 7 attack,” Reuters said.

“Reuters categorically denies that it knew about the attack or that it affiliated the journalists with (the organization) Hamas on October 7. Reuters obtained the photos from two independent Gaza photographers who were at the border on the morning of October 7, with whom it had no previous relationship.

The photos, published by Reuters, were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets into southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said the militants had crossed the border. Staff Reuters journalists were not on site in the locations referred to in the HonestReporting article,” the news agency said in a statement.

Associated Press details:

Following the publication of the HonestReporting article, an Associated Press spokeswoman cited by the Daily Wire denied any previous reports of an attack.

“The Associated Press knew nothing about the Oct. 7 attacks before they happened,” said Nicole Meir.

“AP’s role is to gather information about critical events around the world, wherever they occur, even if those events are horrific and cause mass casualties. The AP uses images taken by freelancers from around the world, including from Gaza,” the AP added.

What allegations by HonestReport…

… for the Associated Press

In a section of its story, HonestReport reports that the source of the photos taken by AP on the Israel-Gaza border on October 7 show four names: Hassan Eslaya, Yusef Masoud, Ali Mahmoud and Hatem Ali.

“Eslaya, a freelancer who also works for CNN, crossed into Israel, took pictures of a burning Israeli tank, and then captured sensitive individuals entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza. HonestReporting obtained screenshots of Eslai’s deleted tweets in which he photographed himself in front of an Israeli tank. He was not wearing a vest or helmet, and the message in Arabic in his tweet read: “Live broadcast from inside the settlements in the Gaza Strip,” the NGO said.

Later, in an update, HonestReporting reported that a photo appeared in the public domain showing Eslaya together with Hamas leader and mastermind of the October 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar.

Massoud, who also works for The New York Times, was also there – just in time to set foot on Israeli soil and take more photos of the tanks. Ali Mahmoud and Hatem Ali were assigned to obtain footage of horrific Israeli abductions in Gaza. Mahmoud seized the van with the body of German-Israeli Shani Luk, and Ali took several photos of the abducted and taken to the Strip,” says the pro-Israel NGO.

… Reuters

“Reuters published images of two photojournalists who were also at the border at the exact time of the Hamas infiltration: Mohammed Faik Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih. Both took pictures of a burning Israeli tank on the Israeli side of the border, but Abu Mustafa went further:

He photographed a crowd mocking the body of an Israeli soldier who had been pulled from a tank.

Reuters kindly added a disclaimer to the photo’s title, but that didn’t stop editors from shamelessly marking it as one of the “Images of the Day” in their editorial database,” HonestReporting writes.