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Photographer Who Infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 Honored in Reuters’ Pulitzer Win
The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. NOTE: This photo was not taken by the photographer in question. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
On Monday, Reuters’ photography staff won the Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography for “raw and urgent photographs documenting the October 7th deadly attack in Israel by Hamas and the first weeks of Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza.”
Appallingly, one of the photos in the agency’s winning 15-image compilation was taken inside Gaza by Yasser Qudih, a photojournalist who had infiltrated Israel on October 7, as HonestReporting exposed last November.
It’s noteworthy, however, that none of his images taken from inside Israel on that horrific day were included in Reuters’ winning portfolio.
It’s appalling that one of the Gazan photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on October 7 is now a @PulitzerPrizes recipient. It’s noteworthy, however, that none of his images taken from inside Israel on that horrific day were included in @Reuters‘ winning portfolio.
We hope… https://t.co/PxG5X4aSb5
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 7, 2024
While Qudih’s winning image shows a typical war scene of Palestinians fleeing a bomb site in Gaza, his border photos from October 7 are quite different.
Qudih was at the scene early enough that morning to capture an image of a still-smoldering Israeli tank after he had illegally crossed into the Jewish State.
Another of Qudih’s photos from that day shows a Palestinian gunman on the Israeli side of the border.
Reuters said Qudih had no prior knowledge of the attack, and that the agency didn’t embed photographers with Hamas.
But the fact Qudih could freely capture gunmen without being threatened suggests that, at a minimum, he had their tacit approval to document and disseminate their actions.
As revealed two months ago by Israel’s Channel 12 news magazine Uvda, the documentation and distribution of the October 7 atrocities was part of Hamas’ vicious plan.
Did Reuters have no qualms about including in its Pulitzer nomination, someone whose professional and ethical conduct had been called into question?
And didn’t the Pulitzer Board conduct background checks on the recipients of a top journalism prize?
Probably not, considering the board also granted a special citation to “the courageous work” of journalists covering the war under fire in Gaza, ignoring the fact that some of them had been moonlighting for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
It is telling, however, that Reuters’ winning portfolio didn’t include any of Qudih’s problematic border images, nor any taken by his colleague, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa.
The latter’s photo of a lynched Israeli soldier being dragged out of the tank had previously been featured by Reuters in its photo galleries throughout the war.
Therefore, while we deplore the inclusion of Qudih in the winning Pulitzer portfolio, the absence of tainted border images would indicate some sort of self-reflection by Reuters. If images that were previously deemed by Reuters to be among its top photos of the year are no longer considered to be worthy of submission for awards, this represents a positive development.
It can only be hoped that Reuters recognizes that the photos it published by Gazan photojournalists who accompanied Hamas across the border are ethically flawed and should not be rewarded with a Pulitzer or any other industry honor.
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 Photographer Who Infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 Honored in Reuters’ Pulitzer Win 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.