Reuters changes headline describing slain Hamas leader Haniyeh as ‘moderate’ amid backlash: ‘Depraved’

Reuters appeared to quietly change a headline that described Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a “moderate” after he was assassinated in an airstrike early Wednesday.

Haniyeh, a founder of the terror group Hamas, was killed while visiting Tehran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced Wednesday. Israel was immediately blamed for the assassination after pledging to kill Hamas leaders over the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 massacre, but nobody has claimed responsibility for his death.

A Reuters obituary about the Hamas political chief, headlined, “Tough-talking Haniyeh was seen as the more moderate face of Hamas,” faced immediate criticism on social media. Users scolded the outlet for its description of the Hamas leader as a “moderate,” pointing to his past rhetoric and central role in leading the failed cease-fire negotiations and hostage deals on behalf of Hamas.

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The Reuters headline was later changed to read, “Who was Ismail Haniyeh and why is his assassination a blow to Hamas?” The story still asserts that Haniyeh was seen as a “moderate” compared to other Hamas leaders by “many” unnamed diplomats. The article refers to Haniyeh as “relatively pragmatic” comparatively, calling him “the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group’s international diplomacy.”

When reached for comment, a Reuters spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the outlet “often refines headlines as a story develops, for reasons including clarity and to reflect additional reporting.”

In an apparent reference to the original Reuters headline, media watchdog Honest Reporting published a list later Wednesday of Haniyeh’s “most moderate moments the media chose to omit.” The compilation included footage shared by journalist Yashar Ali of Haniyeh seemingly rejoicing over images of the October 7 attack on Israel, in which Hamas brutally killed 1,200 people and took nearly 250 hostages.

The list also includes footage of Haniyeh pledging in Arabic that Hamas “will lead Intifada after Intifada until we liberate Palestine,” and a recent TV appearance in which Haniyeh said that “the blood of children, women and elderly” in Gaza is necessary to “arouse within us a persistence.”

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“The blood of the children, women and elderly…we need this blood so that it will ignite within us the spirit of revolution, so that it will arouse within us persistence, so that it will arouse within us defiance and advance,” he said, in television footage shared by Honest Reporting.

“You have got to be kidding me, Reuters (This is not a joke. And no, I am not surprised),” journalist Yashar Ali posted on X alongside a screenshot of the original Reuters headline.

“Probably good to keep this headline in mind when you read anything from this outlet,” Free Press founder Bari Weiss replied.

“Ismail Haniyeh explicitly calls for the use of women and children as human shields Here’s your ‘moderate’ Reuters,” Philanthropist Adam Milstein wrote.

“When @Reuters calls #Haniyeh – one of the masterminds of the October 7th massacre – ‘the more moderate face of Hamas,’ they mean he only wanted to destroy Israel but not conquer the entire world. How depraved are these people?” Newsweek contributor Joel M. Petlin commented.

Others likened the Reuters headline to the Washington Post’s notorious obituary that referred to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an “austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State.”

Reuters was asked by lawmakers in November to answer questions about their journalists’ knowledge of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack after Israel accused the outlet and others of having a forewarning prior to the deadly terrorist strike. 

Honest Reporting first raised ethical questions about why some AP and Reuters journalists were at the site of attack shortly after the atrocities occurred. The Israeli government’s press office director, Nitzan Chen, accused the outlets of being “alongside Hamas terrorists, documenting the murder of Israeli civilians, lynching of soldier and kidnappings to Gaza,” in a letter obtained by Politico. 

Reuters and the Associated Press denied having prior knowledge of the deadly attack.

“Reuters categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas on Oct. 7,” the outlet said at the time.