When Israel has surprised its enemies, the Jewish state has emerged victorious. Examples include destroying the Egyptian Air Force at the start of the 1967 Six Day War, the 1976 Entebbe Operation, and the pager attacks last year in Lebanon.
When Israel was taken by surprise, however, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, it suffered devastating consequences.
One reason the terror tunnels have given Hamas such an advantage is that it has the element of surprise when its terrorists emerge from a shaft – something Israel lacks.
Israel’s military, intelligence, and political leadership were all taken by surprise two years ago on Oct. 7. Hamas’s sponsors in Iran and Qatar and allies in Hezbollah have all claimed they were unaware of the timing of the attack.
So who might have known? And who may not have been taken by surprise?
An investigation by internationally acclaimed photojournalist and imagery adviser David Katz suggests that as many as 14 well-known, elite Gazan photojournalists happened to be on Gaza rooftops well before 6:30 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 7, ready to document the initial missile attacks that provided cover for Hamas’s surprise infiltration into Israel.
The timing of the photos has been verified by independent experts, who analyzed the weather and light conditions.
From meteorological and photometric evidence, the lighting corresponds to a narrow pre-sunrise window confirming the photographer was already staged and prepared before the attacks began. The image validates the timing claims made in the article, though it does not itself prove intent or prior knowledge.
Although the photographers' suspiciously good timing and Hamas connections suggest that they were forewarned of the attack, more information is still required to conclusively establish that they definitely were informed.
All 14 photojournalists published impressive photos of rocket fire via wire services like Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Getty Images, and the Turkish state-run agency Anadolu.
The timing of the unobstructed images seemed to indicate that they knew exactly when the firing would take place. Some of them, like Mahmoud Issa of Reuters, posted photos on Instagram of the sunrise during the attacks.
Some continued taking pictures all day at key sites, such as Shifa Hospital when hostages arrived, and the border fence where Capt. Omer Neutra’s tank went up in flames. All the photographers suspiciously kept showing up at the right place at the right time.
The only female photographer among the 14 was Fatima Shbair of the Associated Press, who was honored in 2021 at Hamas’s “Day of Loyalty to the Palestinian Journalist.” This is an annual event hosted by the terror group’s Government Media Office, with the stated aim of aligning the media with Hamas’s agenda. Shbair spoke in a promotional video for the event.
That same year, the Hamas Media Office also honored photographer Mohammed Abed al-Baba, who praised the media office in a video shown at the event and who, on Oct. 7, was on a roof in Gaza.
The following year, Hamas honored Reuters cameraman Fadi Shana’a, who was also on a roof on Oct. 7. He donned an official scarf of the Hamas Government Media Office at the ceremony.
Katz believes his investigation proves that the 14 Gaza-based photographers were told by Hamas when the rocket attacks were happening, which he said would make them complicit in the attacks on Israeli civilians.
“At a time when truth in journalism is under unprecedented scrutiny, the findings point to a disturbing collapse of journalistic responsibility – and an uncomfortable blurring of the line between observer and participant,” Katz said.
“The 14 Gaza-based photographers were ready as history began to unfold – alongside the terrorists who set the events in motion.”
Katz questioned why Reuters, AP, AFP, Getty, and even The New York Times ran photos submitted on Oct. 7 without publicly questioning the photographers’ access, affiliations, or the ethics of distribution.
The images became the world’s first – and most enduring – visual accounts of the massacre.
The same photographers were later granted access to every major media-focused event in Gaza that followed: hospitals, morgues, hostage releases, funerals, and highly orchestrated scenes of destruction.
“While foreign journalists were barred entry on safety grounds, this select group effectively monopolized the visual narrative,” said Katz.
“The consequence is staggering: The global audience has seen Gaza almost entirely through the images of a group with overlapping ties to the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 attack.
“Those images – unquestioned and unfiltered – have been recycled endlessly in newspapers, television broadcasts, and digital platforms, shaping perceptions and policy debates far beyond the battlefield.”
A line was crossed; journalism has become propaganda
Katz believes a line was crossed in journalism in Gaza that day. He said the findings raise questions about ethics, sourcing, and accountability in global media.
“When global outlets rely on individuals with foreknowledge of terrorism, and possibly with direct affiliations to its organizers, they abandon their own standards of sourcing, independence, and integrity,” he warned.
“Journalism ceases to be a watchdog of power and becomes, instead, a courier for propaganda.” At the very least, media outlets should have done their due diligence, but it is not too late, he said.
“If journalism’s first duty is to the truth, then Oct. 7 marks a crisis point. The press must confront how it allowed imagery born of collaboration with terrorists to become the foundation of the global record.
“Without transparency, accountability, and reform, the credibility of international reporting will continue to erode – at precisely the moment when the world most needs clarity.”
While the study focused on the 14 journalists who were on the roofs before dawn on Oct. 7, it also examined the work of a total of 45 photojournalists whose pictures have graced top wire services and newspapers since then.
Despite charges that Israel has purposely targeted journalists in Gaza, only one of the 45 was killed in the war: Oct. 7 infiltrator Hassan Eslaiah, whose Hamas ties were revealed by media watchdog HonestReporting.
The IDF later published official Hamas documents proving he was a terrorist in Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade.
So has the IDF actually purposely avoided killing Gazan journalists? For anyone who believes Hamas’s narrative, this may be the biggest surprise.
The writer is the executive director of the pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting. He served as chief political correspondent and analyst of The Jerusalem Post for 24 years.