Photographers at the New York Times may not have any photos of Hamas terrorists due to Hamas's restriction on journalists' freedom of access, but two video journalists have documented three separate instances of Hamas firing rockets from densely populated civilian areas.
On July 31, as France24 reporter Gallagher Fenwick was explaining how Israel's operation (and the ensuing restriction on Palestinians' movement) was leading to food insecurity, his voice was drowned out by the deafening “whoosh” of a rocket being launched. He promptly explained to the camera that he had to leave in case there was a pending Israeli air strike on the location.
On Aug. 4, India's NDTV reporter Sreenivasan Jain, in an extremely risky move, recorded Hamas operatives as they set up a rocket staging area next to the hotel where most reporters stay. According to his Twitter, Jain left the Gaza Strip in the early afternoon of Aug. 5. NDTV put up his clip on YouTube (which concluded with him approaching the site where the rocket was in fact launched from) this afternoon, after he left Gaza.
Also on Aug. 5, France24 put up another report by Gallagher Fenwick showing a rocket launch site right next to a hotel used by many reporters. Whether it's the same site that Sreenivasan Jain was recording is not clear.
Something tells us that Fenwick and Jain may have trouble getting media credentials from Hamas the next time it breaks a cease fire. Something else tells us that it's no coincidence that NDTV waited to post its video on YouTube until Jain was safely out of Gaza. We wouldn't be too surprised if Fenwick left the territory before France24 posted it's most recent clip.
