CNN has formally cut ties with freelance photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah, who has provided coverage of Hamas activities in Gaza for CNN, the Associated Press and Reuters.
A smiling Eslaiah was photographed receiving a kiss on the cheek from the “Butcher of Khan Younis”, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, according to multiple reports.
In a video he posted on his Facebook page, Eslaiah is seen riding a motorcycle while brandishing a grenade “en route to the massacre of innocents in Israel,” according to Yaari Cohen of the Ministry of Affairs’ office Foreigners of Israel.
Meet Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance journalist from @CNN, @Reuters, @AP in this video he goes on a motorcycle, with a grenade in his hand, on the way to the Massacre of innocents in Israel.
#FreeGazaFromHamas it seems that it is also the journalists of Hamas. pic.twitter.com/qUW4z0LRyG
— Yaari Cohen (@YaariCohen) November 9, 2023
“Quick reminder: Here’s Yahya Sinwar, leader of #Hamas in Gaza, kissing @CNN @AP @Reuters freelance reporter himself,” Cohen wrote in another post. “Did someone say journalistic integrity?”
Quick reminder: Here is Yahya Sinwar, leader of #Hamas in Gaza kissing the same @CNN @AP @Reuters freelance journalist
Did someone say journalistic integrity? pic.twitter.com/Dy6S1Z8KND
— Yaari Cohen (@YaariCohen) November 9, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Western media for working with freelance photojournalists who are embedded with Hamas.
“The National Directorate of Public Diplomacy of the PMO takes the utmost seriousness that photojournalists working with international media joined together to cover the brutal acts of killing perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on October 7 in communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu’s office declared on Friday at the X. “These journalists were complicit in crimes against humanity; his actions were contrary to professional ethics.”
These journalists were complicit in crimes against humanity; his actions were contrary to professional ethics.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 9, 2023
The outrage came in response to an investigation by Honest reportinga media watchdog group.
They questioned the presence of Gaza photojournalists with Hamas terrorists on October 7.
“What were they doing there so early on what would normally have been a quiet Saturday morning?” asked the group. “Did he coordinate with Hamas? Did the respectable cable services, which published his photos, approve of his presence inside enemy territory, along with terrorist infiltrators? Freelance photojournalists for other outlets, such as CNN and The New York Times, did they notify these media?
“Judging by the footage of an Israeli kibbutz being lynched, kidnapped and stormed,” HonestReporting continued, “it appears that the border has been breached not only physically, but journalistically as well.”
“Four names appear in AP photo credits from the Israel-Gaza border area on October 7: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud and Hatem Ali,” the outlet notes. “Eslaiah, a freelancer who also works for CNN, crossed into Israel, took photos of a burning Israeli tank and then captured infiltrators entering the Kfar Azza kibbutz.”
In posts he has since deleted from X, Eslaiah shared photos of himself in front of the Israeli tank. Noticeably missing was a press vest and helmet, the New York Post reports
In the hours since our exposé, new material is still coming to light about independent Gaza journalist Hassan Eslaiah, which both AP and CNN used on October 7th.
He is pictured here with Hamas leader and mastermind of the October 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar. https://t.co/S9pXeIGaFq pic.twitter.com/RmEZU5RsM8
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 8, 2023
In response to the article, Israel’s Communications Minister Dr. Shlomo Karhi sent a letter to Reuters, the Associated Press, CNN and The New York Times, all of whom were named in the Honest Reporting investigation.
“The gravity of the situation demands a quick and comprehensive response. Now is a time for individuals, journalists, institutions, unions and organizations around the world to make a clear decision,” he wrote. “We must decide whether we are on the side of life and good and on the side of depraved terrorism, the inhumanity and evil”.
Terrorists disguised as journalists?
I asked for immediate clarification from the international media published in the investigation.
Everyone who participated, supported or maintained a bond of silence and allowed the killing of Otef, was tried like any terrorist in Gaza.@CNN @Rueters @nytimes @AP pic.twitter.com/WQ3kq3dTg1— Verified account – Shlomo Karhi (@shlomo_karhi) November 9, 2023
In response, Reuters denied “Media advocacy group HonestReporting’s suggestions that it and other international news organizations had prior knowledge of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and soldiers”.
“Reuters categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas on October 7,” Reuters said.
“Reuters acquired photographs from two Gaza-based freelance photographers who were at the border on the morning of October 7, with whom it had no prior relationship,” it continued. “The photographs published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets across southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said gunmen had crossed the border. Reuters staff reporters were not on the ground to the sites referenced in the HonestReporting article.”
Reuters denies any suggestion that it had prior knowledge of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and soldiers. The news agency was responding to a report by media advocacy group HonestReporting https://t.co/0VWbg0SlFO
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 9, 2023
CNN took more decisive action.
“We are aware of the article and the photo about Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance photojournalist who has worked with various international and Israeli media outlets,” he told CNN. YnetNews on Thursday morning. “While at this time we have found no reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work he has done for us, we have decided to suspend all ties with him.”
The Associated Press, for its part, echoed Reuter’s statement, stating in a statement by himself that he “had no knowledge of the October 7 attacks before they occurred.”
“The first images AP received from any freelancer show they were taken more than an hour after the attacks began,” he explained. “There were no PA personnel at the border at the time of the attacks, and no PA personnel crossed the border at any time.”
Like CNN, the AP has cut ties with Eslaiah, writing: “We no longer work with Hassan Eslaiah, who had been an occasional freelancer for the AP and other international news organizations in Gaza.”
The New York Times called the accusation that Hamas had advanced knowledge of the attacks “false and outrageous” and called the allegations “unsupported”. The Times admitted they had worked with Masoud since the day of the barbaric attack on Israel and made a blanket statement in defense of freelance journalists working in “conflict zones”.
A statement from the New York Times.https://t.co/8bu6wuNF4b pic.twitter.com/35oGtWuNjL
— Patrick Kingsley (@PatrickKingsley) November 9, 2023
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