IDF says documents show former photographer had Hamas ties
The Israel Defense Forces say they recovered a document linking former freelance photographer Hassan Aslih to Hamas. An IDF international spokesperson posted two images on X, claiming they prove Aslih was not a journalist, but rather a member of the militant group behind the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israeli Defense Forces allegedly recovers documents
On Sunday, May 18, the IDF said the documents were found at the Gaza Strip which shows Aslih was a member of the Military Wing of Hamas Movement equipped with a military identification number. The copies are from August 2019 and list the name, “Hassan Abdel Fattah Mohamed Aslih.”
The post reads, “On October 7, he infiltrated Israeli territory alongside armed terrorists, filming scenes of murder, arson, and looting. His footage wasn’t news coverage but it was part of the attack itself, intended to glorify terror.”
As of Tuesday evening, Hamas hasn’t verified the veracity of the documents.
Who was Hassan Aslih?
Aslih was a contract photographer with both CNN and The Associated Press (AP), a position the IDF alleges he used in order to garner sympathy and support from media outlets. Israel also accuses Aslih of being a part of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
The AP and CNN ended their work with Hassan Aslih in 2023 after controversy over footage he captured. A lawsuit filed by victims and families of the Oct. 7 attack accuses AP of using their images in news coverage. Court documents also claim AP was complicit and had prior knowledge of the attack.
The suit names four freelance photojournalists whose work was purchased and later published by AP and other outlets, alleging the photographers were “known Hamas associates.” Although, AP says the claims are baseless and denies any prior knowledge of the attack or Aslih’s alleged associations.
“The Associated Press had no knowledge of the Oct. 7 attacks before they happened,” Lauren Easton, the director of media relations for the Associated Press, said in a statement in 2023. “The first pictures AP received from any freelancer show they were taken more than an hour after the attacks began. No AP staff were at the border at the time of the attacks, nor did any AP staffer cross the border at any time.”
Aslih has thousands of followers on Instagram, where he shared updates and images from the conflict. In Gaza, he was regarded as a respected photojournalist who worked on the front lines to document the war.
Shortly after the 2023 accusation from the IDF that Aslih was affiliated with Hamas, the group’s media office told Reuters that the accusation is an effort to “discredit and fabricate that the occupation adopts to justify attacks on journalists” and other media personnel.
Airstrike kills Aslih while at hospital
On May 13, Aslih was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza at a hospital. Witnesses report he was being treated for injuries he sustained in another airstrike at the same facility in April, according to the BBC.
The International Federation of Journalists said at least 176 journalists have died during the conflict in Gaza. While the Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs at Brown University reports a higher number. According to the institute, that number sits at more than 232 journalists since the October 7 attack.
Honest Reporting responds
Pro-Israeli media group Honest Reporting reported Aslih’s potential link to Hamas shortly after the attack in 2023. The watchdog group posted a picture of Aslih and a now-deceased Hamas leader posing together.
Honest Reporting responded to the claims by IDF saying they were right and the documents prove it. On X, they said they called out media who employed Aslih, “despite his infiltration into Israel during the Hamas massacre and his obvious links to terrorism. We received an enormous amount of pushback.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
