Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters
A pair of international news agencies have denied claims in a viral report alleging that photojournalists may have had prior knowledge of Hamas’ attacks in Israel last month and even possibly “coordinated” with the militant group in order to document the carnage.
An article published by HonestReporting Tuesday asked how photographers working for the Associated Press and Reuters were able to be at the breached border fence between Gaza and Israel early in the early morning of Oct. 7 as Hamas gunmen launched their assault. The article said the journalists’ presence “raises serious ethical questions” and asked if it was conceivable that the reporters were there “without prior coordination with the terrorists? Or were they part of the plan?”
The article from an HonestReporting—a press watchdog headquartered in New York City which aims to “combat ideological prejudice in journalism and the media, as it impacts Israel”—attracted the attention of the Israeli government.