🚨 GAZA PHOTOGRAPHER ADMITS HE WITHHELD OCT. 7 FOOTAGE
Prominent Palestinian photographer Motaz Azaiza says he filmed Israeli hostages being abused by crowds on Oct. 7, but deliberately did not publish the footage because he feared Israel could use it to identify and target those involved.
He also delivered unusually harsh criticism of Hamas:
• “Show me one Palestinian in Gaza who was protected by Hamas’s weapons. No one.”
• He says Hamas had a chance by Oct. 11, 2023 to accept a deal involving disarmament that could have prevented massive destruction and loss of life.
• He describes a Hamas-run WhatsApp mechanism used to intimidate journalists, circulate their personal details, and coordinate attacks against anyone who crossed the organization.
• Gaza photographers, he says, learned to lower their cameras whenever civilians criticized Hamas because publishing such footage could make them targets.
Azaiza was named to TIME’s 100 most influential people and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Now he is describing, in his own words, how much of Gaza’s story never made it onto your screen.