As the Israel-Hamas war reaches its 12-month milestone, HonestReporting looks back at the Gazan journalists we’ve exposed during the year over their ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups.
There were many others we exposed: some for infiltrating into Israel on October 7, others for their antisemitism or praise of the massacre. But we believe those connected to terrorist organizations deserve special attention.
Their close personal and professional links to the terrorists go beyond unethical journalism.
As the following list shows, such links are not a bug in the Gaza media system but a feature of it.
Hassan Eslaiah
Freelance journalist Hassan Eslaiah’s cozy photo with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and an apparent video of him holding a grenade on October 7 made waves last November, after HonestReporting exposed him for infiltrating into Israel.
Subsequently, AP and CNN cut ties with the veteran Gaza journalist.
In the hours following our expose, new material is still coming to light concerning Gazan freelance journalist Hassan Eslaiah whom both AP & CNN used on Oct. 7.
Here he is pictured with Hamas leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar. https://t.co/S9pXeIGaFq pic.twitter.com/RmEZU5RsM8
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 8, 2023
Eslaiah was there as Hamas terrorists invaded Israeli communities, he was there as they killed and kidnapped hundreds of innocent civilians.
He was taking photos, undisturbed, side by side with the terrorists:
Inexplicably, AP removed Eslaiah’s name from his October 7 photos of Hamas atrocities, but the agency’s database still displays them for sale. Eslaiah also continues to update a widely followed Telegram channel.
But the fact he no longer has an active foothold in the international media is a testament to the success of our exposé.
Related Reading: Broken Borders: AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions
Ashraf Amra
Freelance photojournalist Ashraf Amra had been working for AP and Reuters until HonestReporting’s exposé last January that former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had kissed and honored him.
Our investigation also found that Amra hosted an Instagram Live on October 7, in which another journalist who worked for international media called on Gazans to infiltrate Israel.
While the top wire services didn’t make an official statement about Amra, they have stopped using his work. Which only shows that Reuters and AP, despite failing to admit it publicly, have probably realized they can’t continue working with an apparent friend of a terror group.
Related Reading: EXPOSED: Gaza Photojournalists Shared Call to Infiltrate Israel on Oct. 7
Abdel Qader Sabbah
Last July, CNN announced that it would no longer work with Abdel Qader Sabbah, a Gaza freelancer whose ties to Hamas were exposed by HonestReporting.
Sabbah photographed himself with a senior Hamas leader, served in a Hamas-run body to which he also provided work, praised terrorists, and shared anti-Israeli propaganda online, our investigation revealed.
In 2018, he posted a selfie taken with none other than senior Hamas leader Mahmoud A-Zahar, who had called for world domination with “no Zionists” and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Sabbah also posted a photo of himself wearing the uniform of the “General Training Directorate,” a government agency which in Gaza is run by Hamas:
Our exposure revealed that, throughout the Israel-Hamas war, CNN had given a prominent platform to “news reports” by Sabbah, whose Hamas ties have been hidden in plain sight.
While CNN did the right thing in cutting ties with him, the revelation casts a long shadow over the network’s vetting procedures and journalistic standards.
Related Reading: SUCCESS: CNN Fires Hamas-linked Gaza Freelancer Exposed by HonestReporting
Marwan Al-Ghoul
The case of Marwan Al-Ghoul, CBS News journalist in Gaza, still awaits the network’s official comment.
It’s unclear why it hasn’t yet provided explanations for our exposure of Al-Ghoul’s praise for terrorists at an official event of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a proscribed terror group.
Al-Ghoul has also had contacts with terrorists as a member of the Gaza City municipal council, our investigation revealed:
But instead of facing the embarrassing truth — that the network employs a terror-affiliated journalist — CBS has so far chosen silence. Perhaps it has no other sources in Gaza, perhaps it’s easier to ignore the facts.
Whatever the reason, we use this opportunity to remind CBS editors and their audience that Al-Ghoul cannot be considered a professional journalist.
Related Reading: EXPOSED: The Terror Ties of CBS News Journalist in Gaza
Duty to Truth
We don’t believe this list is final, and perhaps it never will be.
Hamas’ sway over local and international journalists in Gaza is all-encompassing, whether they cooperate with it or not.
Those among them who have no qualms about working side by side with the terrorists, taking photos with them, participating in their events, and sharing it all online — should be treated as activists and propagandists rather than journalists.
It’s also alarming that their penetration into mainstream international media has been so vast and unchecked. That’s because their biased reporting not only warps the truth but has real-life ramifications for the safety of Israelis and Jews worldwide.
We must make sure that news outlets weed out such terror allies in their midst.
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