CNN has “suspended all ties” with a freelance photojournalist who appears to have been embedded with Hamas on October 7 at the time of the unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel that left at least 1,400 Israelis dead.
Hassan Eslaiah has been filing photographs of the war to CNN and The Associated Press since the Hamas attrocities on October 7. They include images of a burning Israeli tank from which soldiers were kidnapped.
Now, in a surprising and shocking development, photos circulating on social media show the freelance journalist cosying up with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
He also posted a now-deleted video to Twitter in which he described how Hamas fighters kidnapped Israeli soldiers from the burning tank.
The revelation has raised serious concerns about other photojournalists operating in the war-torn region.
Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud and Hatem Ali have also been providing western media outlets with photos of the war since October 7. They have worked with CNN, The AP, Reuters and The New York Times, according to an expose by Honest Reporting.
Serious questions are now being asked such as what the photojournalists knew and when.
Israel’s government has also weighed in, demanding an explanation from the media outlets, all of which have vehemently denied having prior knowledge of the attack.
A CNN spokesperson told Ynet News the network did not “doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work [Eslaiah] has done for us” but that it has “decided to suspend all ties with him”.
While in a statement to The Washington Times, an Associated Press spokesperson said: “The Associated Press had no knowledge of the October 7 attacks before they happened.
“The role of The Associated Press is to gather information on breaking news events around the world, wherever they happen, even when those events are horrific and cause mass casualties.”
Two photos published by Reuters on October 7 were taken close to the Gaza border as the Hamas invasion began.
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