Families and supporters react as they celebrate the release of Omer Wenkert, a hostage who was held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, on the day of the release of six hostages from captivity in Gaza as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, in Gedera, Israel February 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Rami Shlush

Hamas’ despicable hostage release this weekend was widely covered. But foreign media outlets chose to highlight one particularly nauseating propaganda moment — when Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov kissed a Hamas terrorist onstage after being ordered to do so.

For Gaza photojournalist Ashraf Amra, who infiltrated into Israel on October 7 and was honored by Hamas leadership, it was literally the money shot — which was later sold to Getty Images and platformed by media outlets, including The Times of London and Daily Express.

For Sky News, it was a moment of “warmth.”

Getty Images, The Times, and Daily Express all failed to check the source of the photo.

Amra is a Hamas propagandist: He was fired from Reuters and AP after HonestReporting exposed that he was honored by former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and that he hosted an Instagram Live calling on Gazans to invade Israel during Hamas’ massacre on October 7, 2023.

Here’s Amra getting a kiss from Haniyeh in 2023 and receiving an honor from the unlamented Hamas leader in 2012. pic.twitter.com/VdWXN6wB32

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 23, 2025

These media outlets also know that Hamas is producing propaganda moments from their despicable staged hostage release ceremonies.

While they might be bound to cover these events, why should they also be helping to line the pockets of a friend of Hamas?

It’s even more problematic when the media seem to forget what Hamas’ staged spectacles are all about, which is exactly what happened to Sky News’ Diana Magnay.

In a live broadcast on Saturday, as Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen, and Omer Wenkert were humiliated by Hamas on stage, with one of the camera-wielding terrorists clearly instructing Shem Tov to kiss his captors, Magnay overflowed with emotion: “Some amazing scenes today … this is very unexpected to see that kind of reaction, that kind of warmth.”

Is @DiMagnaySky so naive that she honestly believes the “amazing scenes” she’s commenting on are a product of “warmth” between the hostages and the Hamas terrorists who held them for 504 days?@SkyNews, this is truly embarrassing. https://t.co/AkVNDEiGkf pic.twitter.com/OgpQ0cL3Ys

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 23, 2025

Even without the later clarification by Shem Tov’s father — who said it was all staged — Magnay, or any other journalist, should not have fallen for Hamas’ propaganda in such a painfully naive way.

Is it so difficult to cast doubt on a live show staged by terrorists who don’t even try to hide their propagandist goal?

The answer is that Hamas got what it wanted. Without the international media noticing, the world has gotten used to the spectacles; they have gotten used to the lies; and they have gotten used to the manipulation. They just want the money shot.

Hamas succeeded in normalizing its own evil.

And it is easily sold by Hamas-affiliated journalists to the gullible media, who celebrate it as “amazing scenes.”

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.