“These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics,” said a post from the X account of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Another, from Benny Gantz — currently a minister without portfolio in Israel’s war cabinet — asserted: “Journalists found to have known about the massacre, and still chose to stand as idle bystanders while children were slaughtered — are no different than terrorists and should be treated as such.” 

However, even a cursory examination of the investigation’s claims revealed major discrepancies. While it asserted, for example, that the journalists “happened to be at the border just in time for Hamas’ infiltration,” the photographers’ documentation itself shows that they were not near the Gaza fence when it was first breached at 6:30 a.m. In fact, they arrived there two hours later, when residents of Gaza were already streaming into Israel and Israeli hostages were already being taken back to the Strip by Hamas and other fighters.

Indeed, the allegations against the Palestinian journalists appear to be completely baseless. Gil Hoffman, Honest Reporting’s director and a former longtime correspondent at the Jerusalem Post, admitted as much two days after the report’s publication, in response to refutations issued by the four outlets implicated by the claims: Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, and The New York Times.

Source: Hasbara group’s sham investigation put Gaza journalists in the firing line