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Gazan Photojournalist: I Filmed Hostages Being Beaten on Oct. 7 and Hid the Footage to Protect Attackers
Dinah Bucholz
September 20, 2026

Motaz Azaiza, a popular Gazan photojournalist with a large online following, said in a podcast that he filmed hostages being beaten on Oct. 7 but never published the footage in order to protect the attackers, saying he didn’t want to be responsible for their elimination by the IDF. In another staggering admission, he said that Hamas runs a WhatsApp group called SMART for Gazan journalists, controlling what gets published. “Every journalist in Gaza is in it,” Azaiza asserted. “Hamas media runs it. Its manager was the media director of the Rafah Crossing.” “And by the way, some of them came and ate in my house during the war,” he added. “They fed me during the war. Then suddenly they’re abusing me.” Azaiza, who fled to Qatar several months after the war began, was referring to the tactic he said Hamas used to intimidate journalists who criticized the terror group. READ MORE

TOWN HALL Gaza’s Celebrity Photographer Motaz Azaiza Gives a Disturbing Account of What He Did on October 7 Motaz Azaiza has become the face of Gaza. Through his work with Motaz.org, his fundraising website, he says he’s trying to help raise funds for food, shelter, and safety for families in Gaza. But as Townhall reported in late August, some are questioning how Azaiza is managing to travel the world on the salary of a freelance photographer and UNRWA USA content producer.