ABC probes freelancer’s alleged Hamas ties

The ABC is investigating whether a freelancer who filed video for 7.30 was a Hamas operative, editorial director told Senate estimates on Tuesday.

Gavin Fang confirmed the broadcaster had looked into claims about Roshdi Sarraj, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza on October 22, 2023, and said the ABC had approached the IDF for clarification.

“We have attempted to get some clarification from the IDF about their position on this, and as yet, they have not provided us with any evidence to suggest otherwise,” Fang said.

He said that to the best of the ABC’s knowledge Sarraj had been a legitimate journalist, and that the Committee to Protect Journalists had not removed him from its list of journalists killed.

“There have been claims made but we have to act on a bigger evidential base than that,” he said.