CNN Cuts Ties With Journalist Accused of Being 'Embedded' With Hamas During Oct 7 Attack Against Israel: Report
CNN recently cut all ties with a Gazan journalist accused of being “embedded” with Hamas.
Nov. 9 2023, Published 11:45 a.m. ET
CNN recently cut all ties with a Gazan journalist accused of being “embedded” with Hamas during the devastating attack against Israel last month, RadarOnline.com can report.
In a shocking development to come as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group continues to escalate, CNN announced that they “suspended all ties” with journalist and photographer Hassan Eslaiah.
CNN announced that they “suspended all ties” with journalist and photographer Hassan Eslaiah.
Eslaiah reportedly provided both CNN and the Associated Press with photos of the ongoing Hamas-Israel war in Gaza before being tied to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this week.
According to Daily Mail, CNN came under fire after photos surfaced that showed Eslaiah posing in photos with Sinwar.
Eslaiah also reportedly posted a now-deleted video to X in which he appeared to support the Palestinian militant group both before and after the October 7 attack against Israel.
“We had no prior knowledge of the October 7th attacks,” a spokesperson for CNN told Daily Mail on Thursday. “Hassan Eslaiah, who was a freelance journalist working for us and many other outlets, was not working for the network on October 7th.”
Eslaiah was tied to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this week.
“As of today, we have severed all ties with him,” the network’s spokesperson added.
The Associated Press, which Eslaiah also reportedly provided photos to, also released a statement.
The outlet said it is “no longer working with” Eslaiah and denied having any prior knowledge of the October 7 attack against Israel before it occurred.
“The first pictures AP received from any freelancer show they were taken more than an hour after the attacks began,” the outlet said. “No AP staff were at the border at the time of the attacks, nor did any AP staffer cross the border at any time.”
“Hassan Eslaiah, who was a freelance journalist working for us and many other outlets, was not working for CNN on October 7th.”
“We are no longer working with Hassan Eslaiah, who had been an occasional freelancer for AP and other international news organizations in Gaza.”
Also concerning are reports that at least five additional Gaza journalists allegedly “embedded” with Hamas also provided photos to Western media outlets such as CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, and the New York Times.
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Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud and Hatem Ali were named alongside Eslaiah as having been involved with Hamas ahead of the terrorist attack against Israel last month.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih reportedly “happened to be at the border just in time for the Hamas” infiltration of Israel on October 7.
At least five additional Gaza journalists allegedly “embedded” with Hamas also provided photos to Western media outlets.
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CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, and the New York Times have since faced heavy backlash over their ties to the allegedly Hamas-linked journalists, and other media outlets have demanded answers regarding the problematic incident.
“When international news agencies decide to pay for material that has been captured under such problematic circumstances, their standards may be questioned and their audience deserves to know about it,” one outlet named Honest Reporting charged this week.
“And if their people on the ground actively or passively collaborated with Hamas to get the shots, they should be called out to redefine the border between journalism and barbarism,” Honest Reporting added.
As RadarOnline.com reported, more than 1,400 Israeli citizens were killed and hundreds more were kidnapped when Hamas attacked southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7.
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