2023-11-09 19:52:27
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused international media photographers of being present and taking pictures of the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th. Netanyahu’s office wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) on Thursday: “These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity, their actions violated professional ethics.” The media were asked in writing to clarify this and take immediate action.
Initially, the pro-Israel website “HonestReporting” expressed the suspicion that freelance photographers from the US broadcaster CNN, the “New York Times” and the news agencies AP and Archyde.com were directly present at the massacres on October 7th. More than 1,400 people were killed and 239 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
The AP news agency wrote about the allegations: “The Associated Press had no knowledge of the October 7 attacks before they occurred.” The first images AP received from freelance photographers showed they were taken more than an hour after the attack began. “No AP employees were at the border at the time of the attack, nor did any AP employees cross the border at that time,” it said. The collaboration with a photographer named “HonestReporting” had ended.
CNN told the Israeli news site “ynet” that in light of the report, the broadcaster had ended its collaboration with one of the photographers mentioned.
The Archyde.com news agency wrote: “We are aware of the HonestReporting report and the allegations against two freelance photographers who contributed to Archyde.com reporting on October 7th. Archyde.com categorically denies having known about the attack in advance or having accompanied Hamas on October 7.”
The New York Times rejected the accusation of having known about the terrorist attack in advance as “untrue and outrageous”. “It is reckless to make such allegations and puts our journalists in Israel and Gaza at risk,” it said in a statement. The newspaper explained to a freelance photographer named by “HonestReporting” that he was not working for the “NYT” on October 7th. “He has done important work for us since then.”
Some photos from AP were broadcast on dpa Bildfunk. A dpa spokesman in Hamburg said dpa had asked its partner agency AP to clarify how these images came about and whether these freelance photographers had been informed in advance about Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel. (sda/dpa)
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