CNN Forced to Fire Reporter with Terrorist Connections

CNN has fired Gaza freelancer Abdel Qader Sabbah amid allegations of his ties to Hamas, raising serious questions about the network’s vetting procedures and the objectivity of its wartime reporting.

Another mainstream media organization, CNN, has been accused of hiring a freelancer in Gaza named Abdel Qader Sabbah, who reportedly has ties to Hamas. This comes after several other organizations, including the New York Times, the Associated Press, Reuters, and Al Jazeera, have faced similar accusations about their Gaza-based journalists since the October 7 attack.

The watchdog website Honest Reporting, which has conducted extensive investigations, reported on Tuesday that Sabbah had photographed himself with a senior Hamas leader, served in a Hamas-run body, praised terrorists, and shared anti-Israeli propaganda online. Despite these connections, CNN had frequently featured news reports by Sabbah during the Israel-Hamas war, raising concerns about the network's vetting procedures and journalistic standards.

"Someone like Abdel Qader Sabbah cannot be considered an objective journalist," Honest Reporting stated. "His posts expose him as a Hamas mouthpiece, at best, or a serviceman affiliated with a proscribed terror group, at worst."

In response to these revelations, CNN has now fired Abdel Qader Sabbah. Honest Reporting also urged several state-level attorneys general, who had previously cautioned news networks against hiring journalists with terrorist links, to investigate CNN for what it described as the latest instance of this troubling trend.