A lawsuit was filed Wednesday against global news agencies Reuters and The Associated Press by five families on behalf of their relatives who were victims of the Hamas terrorist attack at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The lawsuit alleges the news agencies published reports and pictures from journalists who were on assignment with the terrorists that engaged in the violence, Ynetnews reported.
The families have stated that several "journalists" not only entered Israel with Hamas on the day of the massacre but also participated in the atrocities. During the attack, Hamas massacred more than 1,200 Israeli citizens and took another 250 hostage. Israel said about a quarter of the remaining 130 hostages are presumed to be dead.
Reuters and The Associated Press are two of the largest news agencies in the world and produce televised and written reports using local teams, the lawsuit stated.
"They are liable for the direct and indirect damage and actions of their 'journalists,' " the lawsuit, filed in Jerusalem District Court, stated. "Any excuse or justification that could be raised claiming the rules of journalism — such as the right of the public to know — cannot justify a situation whereby a reporter for one of the agencies would be present, participate and film the commission of a serious crime, such as the abduction of an elderly woman from her home."
The lawsuit also stated any claim suggesting the reporters did not know of the planned attack is false because they "reported" on the first minutes of the massacre.
"There is no doubt that the 'journalists' who were present at the massacre could have assisted the victims and notified Israeli authorities in advance so that the atrocities would have been prevented," the lawsuit stated. "The news agencies who had contracted the services of the journalists, and who are responsible directly for their actions, are liable for damages caused to the plaintiffs."
The lawsuit follows a lawsuit against the AP filed in the Southern District of Florida on behalf of survivors, family members of victims, and those displaced by the attack, The Jerusalem Post reported. The lawsuit contended that the AP ignored the connections the photographers had to terrorist organizations.
The AP said Thursday the Florida lawsuit was baseless, and that it "had no advance knowledge of the October 7 attacks, nor have we seen any evidence — including in the lawsuit — that the freelance journalists who contributed to our coverage did."