Israeli bomb tracks journalist involved in October 7 Hamas attacks

Israel bomb in Gaza tracked a Palestinian journalist who has been identified as as “embedded” with Hamas during its rampage through southern Israel in the Oct 7 attacks.

In resumption of attacks which have taken out key HAMAS operatives in the devastated Gaza City, an Israeli bomb followed Hassan Eslaiah to a press tent in Khan Younis and led to the death and injury to other journalists. It is not clear whether Eslaiah using the press tent as cover.

The IDF and Israeli intelligence said Eslaiah was operating “under the guise of a journalist and owner of a press company” and that he was actually a member of Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade.

Hassan Eslaiah, a photojournalist and former freelancer for the Associated Press (AP), was wounded in an air strike on a press tent in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis that killed at least two others and left several wounded early on Monday.

On October 7 2023, Eslaiah crossed the border into Israel and photographed the ransacking of an Israeli tank and the storming of Kibbutz Nir Oz, where dozens of civilians and troops were killed and several taken hostage.

His photos were published by the AP, and then republished by other international news outlets.

One photo of Hamas attackers celebrating on top of a burning Israeli Merkava tank became one of the most widely recognised images of the day.

According to Hebrew media, he was not wearing a press vest during the attack.

The Israeli government later said several Gaza-based journalists working with international media, including Eslaiah, had prior knowledge of the Hamas assault and urged bureau chiefs to investigate.

Reuters, who published photos from freelancers of the Oct 7 attacks, said it “categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas on Oct 7.”

AP also issued a similar denial, saying that no full-time staff were at the Israel-Gaza border at the time.

Gaza medics said Monday’s strike killed at least two and wounded nine others.

One of those killed was identified by local media as Helmi al-Faqawi, a journalist who worked for Palestine Today.

Six of those injured were believed to be journalists, some of whom remained in a critical condition. Despite targeting a press tent, Israel said it had taken steps to avoid civilian casualties in the attack.

Dozens of colleagues and relatives of Mr Faqawi attended his funeral, where his shrouded body was carried on a medical stretcher with a blue press jacket resting on top.

The Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs condemned Mr Faqawi’s death as an act of “extra-judicial killing” intended to frighten reporters and stop media coverage.

Over 200 journalists have been killed by the IDF since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.

The International Federation of Journalists has claimed Israel is deliberately targeting those reporting on the conflict.

Israel continues to deny such accusations, claiming that those targeted are Hamas-affiliated.