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Gazan activist admits suppressing footage of Israeli hostages being beaten in Gaza
Motaz Azaiza described having deliberately withheld footage he had taken on 7 October 2023
A prominent Palestinian photographer has described withholding video footage he filmed of Israeli hostages, including children, being beaten in the streets of Gaza on 7 October 2023.
Speaking during a recent podcast interview, Motaz Azaiza, who became famous as a result of his photographs taken in Gaza in the wake of 7 October, said that he had not published the footage in order to protect the identities of those carrying out the assaults.
Speaking to YouTuber Ahmed Biqui on the Taqarrab podcast, Azaiza, who managed to leave Gaza for Qatar in 2024, said: “I saw the vehicle of the Al-Qassam Brigades, and there were Israeli captives there. People got out, watched, beat them, hit them, and I followed them and filmed. But I did not publish those videos. Why? Because I did not want to ruin the lives of the people who were filmed.”
He added: “I understood that Israel would use those videos to identify every person who was there and eliminate them. I did not want to be responsible, even indirectly, for the deaths of those people in exchange for a few likes and views online.”
Last week, other footage from the interview appeared to show Azaiza admitting that it was standard practice for journalists in Gaza to avoid filming people who were criticising Hamas.
In a social media post on 20 September, the activist, who has more than 16 million followers on Instagram, criticised media coverage of his interview, claiming it had been “disgracefully and dishonestly distorted, poorly translated, and taken out of context by Israel and supporters of the Israeli occupation.”
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