News channels say they had no prior knowledge of the Hamas attacks because the Israeli government confiscates reports on the work of freelance photographers

CNN, this New York TimesThe Associated Press and Reuters said they had no prior knowledge of the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, after Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government seized on allegations that freelance photographers may have been involved with the terror group.

CNN and AP also said they were no longer working with a freelancer who a monitoring group said was in the border area between Israel and Gaza on the day of the attack.

Honest Reporting, which monitors media bias against Israel, published photos and videos by freelancer Hassan Eslaiah. The footage showed Eslaiah with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and another was taken after Eslaiah crossed the border into Israel and photographed a burning Israeli tank.

Honest Reporting also identified other photographers who were in the Israel-Gaza border area on the day of the attack, and their work was picked up by Western news media.

In a statement on October 7 about terrorists in the communities bordering the Gaza Strip. These journalists were complicit in their crimes against humanity; Your actions violated professional ethics.”

The Prime Minister’s Office also said it had sent an “urgent letter to the heads of office of the media organizations that employed these photographers to seek clarification on the matter.”

In a statement, AP says this is the case “No knowledge of the attacks on October 7 before they took place. The first photos obtained by AP from a freelancer show they were taken more than an hour after the attacks began. There were no AP personnel at the border at the time of the attacks, and at no time did AP personnel cross the border.“

The AP said it no longer works with Eslaiah.

A spokesman for CNN said it had “no knowledge of the October 7 attacks.” The spokesman said Eslaiah was a freelance journalist who worked for CNN and many other media companies, but “has not worked for the network as of October 7.” As of today, we have severed all ties with him.”

Reuters also denied having any prior knowledge of the attacks.

“Reuters obtained photos of two Gaza-based freelance photographers who were at the border on the morning of October 7 and 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 gunmen had crossed the border. Reuters journalists were not on the ground at the locations mentioned in the HonestReporting article.”

The New York Times said that “the accusation that anyone at The New York Times knew in advance of the Hamas attacks or accompanied Hamas terrorists during the attacks is false and outrageous.”

“It is reckless to make such allegations that endanger our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza,” the spokesperson said. Time said.

The Times also defended one of the photographers cited by Honest Reporting, Yousef Masoud, saying he did not work for the paper Time On the day of the attack, “he has done important work for us ever since.”

“There is no evidence to support Honest Reporting’s allegations,” the spokesperson said Time said. “Our review of his work shows that he did what photojournalists always do during major news events: document the tragedy as it unfolded.”