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Shocking Revelation: Gaza Photojournalists Shared Call to Infiltrate Israel on Oct. 7
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. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A Gaza photojournalist working for the international media called on residents of the coastal enclave to cross the border into Israel on October 7, after Hamas terrorists had breached it, an HonestReporting investigation has found.
Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, a freelancer who has been working for Reuters, made the comments while excitedly displaying footage of Hamas atrocities on an Instagram Live hosted in Gaza by another photojournalist, Ashraf Amra.
Amra has been working for AP, Reuters, and APA Images, as well as for Turkish agency Anadolu. The investigation also found Amra had been honored with kisses by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on two previous occasions.
The revelation casts doubt on the journalistic impartiality of the two freelance photojournalists and the vetting procedures of media outlets that have relied on their work.
The following information was compiled based on a probe of Amra’s and Abu Mostafa’s social media accounts. We also looked at articles and visuals published online and checked image databases of relevant media outlets.
“Whoever Can Go — Go”
On October 7, Amra hosted an Instagram Live from Khan Younis to provide updates following Hamas’ deadly cross-border assault on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and some 240 taken hostage.
During the broadcast, Amra willingly let a thrilled Abu Mostafa, who had just returned from Israeli territory, display the brutal acts that he had captured on his phone at the breached border area.
Amra can be seen laughing and smiling while Abu Mostafa presented footage of the lynching of an Israeli soldier:
Abu Mostafa went on to say: “We were there two hours ago, since the beginning.”
He detailed what he saw at the border and deep inside Israel, in Sderot. He described breaking into a room where Israelis were hiding before being taken by Hamas terrorists.
He then called on people to cross into the sovereign Jewish state: “Advice, whoever can go — go. It is a one-time event that will not happen again.”
And Amra replies: “Really, it will not repeat itself.”
Abu Mostafa’s border photos, one of which seems to show the lynching he had shared on Amra’s Live, were recently selected by Reuters and The New York Times to be included in their 2023 “Images of the Year.”
Amra was also at the border earlier in the day. In the Instagram Live he said:
I just returned from the Khuza’a area, near the Khuza’a area on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip. Tens of armed Palestinian men are constantly storming the border toward the settlements around Gaza.
Some media outlets published a photo credited to “Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images,” showing a digger breaching the border fence. Reuters selected another photo by Amra, taken on October 7 inside Gaza, as one of its “Pictures of the Month” for October 2023.
In November, HonestReporting published an expose that raised serious ethical questions regarding the early morning presence of Gaza photojournalists — including Abu Mostafa — at the breached Gaza-Israel border on October 7.
We questioned the morality and professionalism of those photojournalists who appeared to accompany Hamas terrorists on their rampage and inquired as to what level of knowledge these freelancers had prior to the Hamas infiltration, asking whether it was only physical borders that were breached.
Now, the exposure of a journalist who proudly proclaims he has been at the border “since the beginning” — coupled with his call to infiltrate Israel while displaying Hamas atrocities — crosses more boundaries. Particularly when he had been given the platform to do so by another fellow journalist, who was happy to share it with his 188K Instagram followers.
Kissed By Haniyeh
Amra’s willingness to utilize his social media channel in this manner may be explained by the special personal treatment he has received from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In mid-September, the terror group leader paid a visit to Amra who was being treated for a hand injury in an Istanbul hospital.
Amra had been injured while covering Gaza border riots (without a press vest), and he blamed Israeli troops for targeting him.
In the photos and videos published after the meeting, Haniyeh is seen kissing Amra’s cheeks and arm cast.
According to media reports, Haniyeh told Amra during the visit that he appreciated his role and that of the Palestinian media in exposing “the crimes of the occupation.” Amra replied that the injury won’t prevent him from returning to his “national role.”
The high-profile hospital visit was not the first time Haniyeh had honored the veteran photojournalist, to whom he presented an award back in 2012:
Does Haniyeh provide such VIP treatment to every Gaza-based journalist who may have been injured while working? What is the nature of his connection with Amra? Does it explain Amra’s easy access to coverage of Hamas leadership and training in Gaza?
Interestingly, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Amra has also been working alongside Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance photojournalist whose infiltration into Israel and close ties with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar were detailed in HonestReporting’s expose in November. Subsequently, AP and CNN cut ties with Eslaiah.
All of the above should sound the alarm bells for news organizations and their audiences worldwide.
The exhilaration at the display of Hamas atrocities, along with the sharing of a call to infiltrate Israel, where Hamas had been brutalizing, raping, and murdering innocent Israelis on October 7, are appalling in their own right.
So is the flattery their actions earned from the head of a genocidal terror organization.
There are serious questions for the international media outlets who prominently showcased these photojournalists’ work:
Did they vet Amra and Abu Mostafa before publishing their work?
Were any outlets aware of the photojournalists’ social media activity and of Amra’s recognition by the leader of a proscribed terror group?
What exactly are their vetting procedures for freelancers in Gaza?
And, if there are different codes of conduct for freelancers vs. permanent staff, then why isn’t that disclosed on every article that a freelancer works on?
A commitment to journalistic ethics should prompt the news organizations we have named to answer these very basic questions.
And basic humanity should compel them to answer these questions.
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 Shocking Revelation: Gaza Photojournalists Shared Call to Infiltrate Israel on Oct. 7 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
TRUMP THREAT
Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
The post Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.