A Gazan journalist affiliated with Hamas, who documented the attack on October 7, was employed by the British Sky News network through an external production company, sparking a diplomatic incident between Israel and UN peacekeeping forces.
The journalist was hired as a photographer via a third company for an article about the activities of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), and he posed for photos with its staff and uploaded the photos to social media. As a result, the Israeli embassy in Washington accused the UN body responsible for mine action of having ties to Hamas.
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The Gazan journalist had ties to Hamas, and photographed the October 7 attack
(Photo: AP)
Israeli officials called the event a "serious scandal" and said that the incident proves once again that UN bodies employ people identified with terrorism.
However, Ynet has learned that the journalist is not part of the UN team, but was working for Sky News and was sent to prepare an article about the mine clearance department following the appointment of Luke Irving as the new head of the mine clearance unit in the Palestinian territories. Irving's team is responsible for clearing explosive remnants from the war, to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Gaza. The network sent an independent camera crew that went with Irving and his team on a tour and interviews in the field. The footage was shot on February 2.
The team was unaware of the journalist's background and his ties to Hamas. A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping forces said that "UNMAS has never had or has had any contact with this individual, and was not provided with any information about him before he came to film for Sky News. He is not an employee of UNMAS."
In a letter sent in recent days by Sky News to the UN and obtained by Ynet, the network apologized and admitted that he had been hired through an external production company. After his problematic past and ties to Hamas became known, contact with him and the production company that employed him was immediately terminated. The network added that they decided not to use the materials filmed by him as part of the article.
"This individual was booked as a camera operator by a third-party production company and was not known to Sky News," a Sky News spokesperson told Ynet. "When we were made aware that questions exist about the individual’s impartiality and alleged connections, we immediately made the decision not to air any of the content produced. We have now ended our relationship with the production company."
"We are reviewing the relevant processes in Gaza and that work is underway internally," the spokesperson told Ynet.
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The latest incident raises questions about the employment of Palestinian journalists by Western media outlets, especially in conflict zones like Gaza. Israel claims that this is a recurring pattern in which news networks employ media personnel affiliated with Hamas without thoroughly checking their backgrounds. On the other hand, international media outlets claim that working in Gaza requires reliance on local freelancers, due to the difficulty of sending foreign teams to the region.
Beyond the media implications, the incident led to further diplomatic tensions between Israel and the UN. In Israel, pressure was exerted on UNMAS to issue a public clarification on the issue and demanded that the organization conduct more rigorous background checks on media personnel who work with it. The Mine Action Service says that they had no knowledge or ability to obtain prior information about the past of employees of another body.