Four international media outlets have been accused by Israel of having advance knowledge of an attack by Hamas militants in Gaza on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 people.
The media outlets include the New York Times, CNN, the Associated Press, and Reuters
But the news services have strongly denied these accusations, with the New York Times stating that such charges put journalists in both Israel and Gaza at risk.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi alleged that certain individuals within these organizations, including photographers, had prior knowledge of the Hamas attacks. The Israeli government’s press office director, Nitzan Chen, wrote to the bureau chiefs of the four organizations in Israel seeking clarifications regarding the behavior of the photographers during the assault.
Israel’s request for clarification was prompted by a report from Honest Reporting, which raised questions about whether the photographers had advance knowledge of the attack. The NGO’s report suggested that the photographers may have been prepared to document the events at close range.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office went further, suggesting that reporters should have intervened to stop the crimes rather than documenting them, and characterized the journalists as “accomplices in crimes against humanity.” Benny Gantz, a centrist leader and member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, stated that journalists who were present at the scene but did not intervene were no different from terrorists and should be treated as such.
Later, Reuters, AP, and the New York Times issued statements denying any prior knowledge of the October 7 attacks. Reuters emphasized that it acquired photos from freelance photographers at the border on the morning of the attack and had no prior relationship with them.
AP stated that it had no knowledge of the attacks beforehand and that the first pictures received from freelancers were taken more than an hour after the attacks began. The New York Times has described the accusations as untrue and outrageous, emphasizing that they put journalists in Israel and Gaza at risk.
While not issuing a formal statement, CNN was cited by the Israeli Ynet network as having cut ties with one of the photographers mentioned in the report. CNN stated that they had not found reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work done by the photographer, but had decided to suspend all ties with him.
