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

An Israeli air strike on Tuesday, May 13, killed a Palestinian journalist in Gaza whom the IDF identified as a Hamas terrorist, the army said. Despite HonestReporting calling out the Associated Press (AP), the agency continues to sell his photos on its global platform, in what some legal experts say may be considered material/financial support of a designated foreign terrorist organization in violation of US law that prohibits such conduct.

Allegations of Hassan Eslaiah’s links to terrorism should not have come as a surprise to the AP, which officially cut ties with the freelancer after HonestReporting’s November 2023 exposé of his infiltration into Israel during the October 7 massacre, which also saw the resurfacing of a photo of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar kissing him on the cheek.

Eslaiah’s death also provoked a social media outcry from self-appointed Palestinian “journalists,” as well as from the new Pulitzer Prize winner — people whom we have previously exposed for praising the October 7 massacre, documenting abductions of Israelis by Hamas, or excusing them.

Hassan Eslaiah (r) with former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (l)

AP’s Deafening Silence

Although we reached out to the AP twice for comment, the wire service continues to ignore our revelation last week of more than 40 photos by Eslaiah on its digital platform, which serves hundreds of media outlets worldwide. The photos’ prices range between 35 and 495 US dollars.

Our story, which detailed the possible legal ramifications of the AP selling Eslaiah’s material, was published after the IDF targeted and wounded him in southern Gaza in early April, while publicly identifying him as a member of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade who had been posing as a journalist.

On May 13, he was killed in a precise air strike on the Nasser hospital in Gaza along with other terrorists, the IDF said.

Interestingly, Eslaiah’s specific photos of the October 7 atrocities inside Israel have been removed from the AP’s platform, and it’s not clear whether he received royalties when his remaining photos were purchased.

But the credit Eslaiah still gets from a respected news outlet is certainly a reputation booster. And either way, the AP can still make money off of his propaganda for Hamas:

Social Media Outcry

Meanwhile, some self-appointed Palestinian journalists and the new Pulitzer Prize winner used the X social media platform (formerly Twitter) to eulogize their admired colleague, who also happened to receive a heartfelt send-off from Hamas.

Eslaiah received a prominent lamentation from Mosab Abu Toha, a Gazan poet who won the Pulitzer Prize last week for his New Yorker essays on the war in Gaza, and whom we recently exposed for justifying the abduction of Israelis by Hamas. Incidentally, he also blocked HonestReporting on X.

Hind Khoudari, a self-appointed Gazan journalist who was quoted by various media outlets throughout the Israel-Hamas war, also wrote a moving post about Eslaiah, which prompted us to remind her online fan club that she had collaborated with Hamas, leading to the arrest of Palestinian peace activists.

“Journalist” @Hind_Gaza was outed as a Hamas collaborator whose information led to the arrest of Palestinian peace activists.

Here she is putting lipstick 💄 on a pig 🐷.

No amount of cameras, press vests, or press helmets can disguise who Hassan Eslaiah was.

Behind the… https://t.co/8sh1Qto6iU

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 13, 2025

Khoudari’s reaction was to accuse HonestReporting of responsibility for the deaths of Palestinian journalists, an entirely far-fetched claim with no basis in reality, but repeated by many of her followers on social media.

Motaz Azaiza, another Gazan with an iPhone who became the darling of Western media, called Eslaiah “the most kind human you will ever meet.” Kindness, apparently, does not apply to Jews in Azaiza’s eyes, considering he had posted a video of the kidnapping of Israelis into Gaza and another video replete with a triumphant caption, showing Hamas terrorists inside Israel.

Yeah. Two “kind humans” together.

Reminder: @azaizamotaz9 posted a video of the kidnapping of Israelis into Gaza & another video replete with a triumphant caption, showing Hamas terrorists inside Israel.

No wonder he admired Oct. 7 infiltrator & Hamas operative Hassan Eslaiah. https://t.co/ygkgnk7hBR

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 13, 2025

All of these “journalists” praising their hero, as well as the AP platforming his work, conveniently ignores or denies Eslaiah’s links to terrorism — which comes as little surprise.

Hassan Eslaiah is just the tip of a very big iceberg when it comes to the role of Palestinian journalists in Hamas’ propaganda campaign. And public acknowledgment of this would bring the entire edifice crashing down — something that too many media outlets, as well as Palestinian activists, will try as hard as they can to avoid.

HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.