A celebrated Gaza photographer admitted he filmed a mob torturing Israeli hostages on camera — then hid the footage to shield the attackers, not the victims.
Story Snapshot
- Motaz Azaiza says he filmed Israeli hostages being beaten by a Gaza mob on October 7, 2023, but never published the footage.
- He claims he withheld the video so Israel could not identify the people shown attacking the hostages.
- Multiple independent outlets confirmed the same core admission from his September 2026 podcast interview.
- Public figures, including a children’s YouTube star and a New York City mayoral candidate, have kept close ties to Azaiza even after the admission.
What Azaiza Admitted On Tape
Motaz Azaiza built an international following photographing daily life in Gaza during the war, winning praise from celebrities and journalists alike. In a September 2026 Arabic-language podcast called Taqarob, he described watching a Hamas vehicle carrying Israeli captives on October 7, 2023. “People got out, watched, beat them, hit them, and I followed them and filmed,” he said, confirming he recorded the attack but chose not to release it.
Azaiza gave a clear reason for staying silent. “I did not want to ruin the lives of the people who were filmed,” he said, adding that he believed Israel “would use those videos to identify every person who was there and eliminate them.” That explanation shields the identities of the attackers, not the hostages who were beaten on camera.
Coverage Spreads Beyond One Outlet
This is not a claim from a single partisan blog. The Jerusalem Post, Townhall, World Israel News and other outlets all reported the same core admission within days of each other in September 2026, each quoting Azaiza describing the beating and his decision to keep the footage private. The consistency across separate newsrooms makes the underlying quote hard to dismiss as a mistranslation or a one-off exaggeration.
Who’s Still Cozying Up To Him
Despite the admission, prominent public figures keep embracing Azaiza. Children’s YouTube personality Ms. Rachel called him a “friend” in a resurfaced clip that recirculated widely once his podcast comments went public, prompting backlash from parents and commentators who felt blindsided.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani also appeared smiling alongside Azaiza in a photo that spread across social media after the podcast comments surfaced. Conservatives quickly pointed out the optics of a major Democratic figure standing next to someone who just admitted hiding footage of hostages being tortured.
Why This Admission Matters
Azaiza’s own words show he chose to protect the people attacking hostages over telling the full story, the exact kind of bias conservatives have long accused international media of showing toward Hamas since October 7, 2023. One Jerusalem Post opinion piece argued Azaiza should face real consequences for the decision rather than continued celebrity treatment.
The story about the Gazan journalist Motaz Azaiza, where he has admitted that journalists were scared to show criticism of Hamas, and that he himself withheld footage of Israeli hostages being beaten because he feared what would happen if those involved were identified, is one of… pic.twitter.com/VHh0n9AQGu
— Aɴᴛ (@AntSpeaks) September 20, 2026
Nothing in the public record proves Azaiza coordinated directly with Hamas, and no outside forensic review of the footage exists beyond his own account. Still, his admission alone raises hard questions about why a reporter celebrated for “unfiltered” war coverage chose silence over accountability, and why prominent public figures keep giving him a friendly platform.
Sources:
thegatewaypundit.com, townhall.com, mixvale.com.br, jpost.com
