Reuters denies any suggestion that it had prior knowledge of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Reuters on Thursday denied suggestions from media advocacy group The Honest that the organization and other international news organizations had prior knowledge of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The Israeli government has demanded clarifications from Reuters and three other news groups regarding an HonestReporting article that questioned their work with Gaza-based photojournalists during the Hamas attack.

HonestReporting, which describes itself on its website as a “charitable organization” with a mission to “combat ideological bias in journalism and the media as it impacts Israel,” said it was not accusing Reuters of complicity but was raising ethical questions about news coverage. .

“Reuters categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we integrated journalists with Hamas on October 7,” Reuters said in response to the HonestReporting article and subsequent allegations by Israeli government officials.

She added, “Reuters obtained photos from two independent photographers in Gaza who were on the border on the morning of October 7 and had no previous relationship with them.”

“The images published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets across southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel announced that militants had crossed the border. Reuters journalists were not on the ground at the locations referred to in the HonestReporting article.” Reuters added.

Israeli government spokesman Nitzan Chen said in a statement that Israel is demanding clarifications from Reuters and other news organizations regarding the HonestReporting article, saying that what the report described “crosses all red lines, professional and ethical.”

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said it viewed “extremely serious” the suggestion that journalists working for international media had joined in covering the Hamas attack. She added, “These journalists were complicit in crimes against humanity, and their actions were in violation of professional ethics.”

HonestReporting wrote on the social media platform

She added, “We did not accuse Reuters of complicity.” “We have rightly raised some serious ethical issues regarding the media’s association with these independent journalists and raised important and relevant questions that everyone deserves to answer.”

The Associated Press (AP), which was among the news groups cited by HonestReporting, said: “The AP had no knowledge of the October 7 attacks before they occurred. The first photos the AP received from any independent journalist show they were taken more than From “an hour after the attacks began. “No AP employees were at the border at the time of the attacks, and no AP employees crossed the border at any time.”

Reuters said in its statement that it remains committed to providing independent, accurate and unbiased news around the world, in line with the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.