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Exposed: The AP Sells Pictures By Photojournalist Identified as Hamas Terrorist, Kissed by Sinwar
Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City on April 14, 2023. Photo: Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The Associated Press sells photos by a Gazan photojournalist whom Israel identified as a Hamas terrorist, an HonestReporting investigation revealed on Tuesday, in what legal experts say may be considered material/financial support of a designated foreign terrorist organization in violation of US law that prohibits such conduct.
Hassan Eslaiah was targeted and wounded in an Israeli strike on southern Gaza in early April, with the IDF publicly identifying him as a member of the Hamas Khan Younis Brigade who has been posing as a journalist.
This should have come as no surprise to the AP, which officially cut ties with the Gazan freelancer after our November 2023 exposé of his infiltration into Israel during the October 7 massacre, which also brought to light a photo of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar kissing him on the cheek.
However, the agency still offers for sale on its global platform more than 40 photos taken by Eslaiah inside Gaza during October-November 2023. Their prices range between 35 and 495 U.S. dollars.
HonestReporting has reached out to the AP for comment.
Hassan Eslaiah (r) with former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (l)
Whether Eslaiah still gets royalties when his remaining photos are purchased is unclear, but the credit he gets on a respected news outlet is certainly a reputation booster. And either way, AP can still make money off of his propaganda for Hamas:
Legal Questions
Disturbingly, AP staff seem to have known about Eslaiah’s Hamas links years before October 7, 2023. According to documents released in a US lawsuit in early April, they were worried about his reliability since 2018, but still used his work.
The AP is also the only Western agency that still platforms Eslaiah’s tainted work. Reuters and Getty Images have removed his content due to HonestReporting’s public campaigns, which proved effective even before his confirmation as a Hamas member.
But now, the AP must explain and follow suit. This is no longer just an ethical violation, but possibly also a legal one, particularly if US authorities come to determine that Eslaiah is sufficiently connected to Hamas and/or acts of terrorism.
Legal experts told HonestReporting that in purchasing Eslaiah’s content, the AP may well be in direct violation of anti-terrorism laws or financial sanctions enforced by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These laws prohibit transactions with entities or individuals that are on terrorism-related lists, and these regulations extend to payments for content or goods. Violation of OFAC sanctions has the potential to result in both civil and criminal penalties, including hefty fines and possible imprisonment. Purchasing the material and continuing to publish Eslaiah’s work, with direct attribution, may also be a violation of Section 2339B of Title 18 of the United States Code, which makes it a federal crime to knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
In December 2023, following HonestReporting’s exposure of photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on October 7, 14 state attorneys general wrote a letter to The New York Times, AP, CNN, and Reuters calling them out for using hires with ties to Hamas and reminding them that providing material support to terrorists and terror organizations is a crime.
The letter specifically mentions the case of Hassan Eslaiah and ends by calling on the media outlets to “ensure that you are taking all necessary steps to prevent your organizations from contracting with members of terror organizations. We urge you in the strongest terms to take care that your hiring practices conform to the laws forbidding material support for terror organizations.”
Subsequently, it may be time for US Attorney General Pam Bondi to take an interest.
The AP is based in New York. Will the Attorney General consider the possibility that, despite this warning, the AP may have been providing material support for a terrorist organization, even by continuing to feature the “work” of an alleged Hamas member who may have used it as a cover?
We think the answer is clear, if not legally, then morally. The AP should do the right thing, apologize, and remove all of Eslaiah’s content, unless they want to continue being associated with a terror-linked “journalist.”
HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Exposed: The AP Sells Pictures By Photojournalist Identified as Hamas Terrorist, Kissed by Sinwar first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.