Soros-Backed Drop Site News Employs Palestinian Reporter Fired by CNN Over Hamas Ties

A left-wing outlet Drop Site News, whose publisher is the daughter of a billionaire biotech entrepreneur and LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, is drawing fresh scrutiny after reports emerged that the site hired a Gazan reporter who was booted by CNN over his ties to Hamas.Though freelance journalist Abdel Qader Sabbah has worked with Drop Site at least since September 2025 — when the site described him in a post as one of its “main reporters” — his employment there was recently flagged by investigative journalist Eitan Fischberger in his Substack, the Fisch Files. Drop Site has not responded to the Sun’s request for comment. Mr. Sabbah was dropped by CNN in July 2024 — more than a year before he surfaced at Drop Site — after a media watchdog group, HonestReporting, reported that the freelance journalist had previously been employed by Hamas, praised terrorists, and shared anti-Israel propaganda online.Evidence of his Hamas ties emerged from his social media activity, where he shared selfies with senior Hamas officials and posted images of himself wearing the uniform of a government agency run by the terrorist group. In one photograph from 2018, he appears smiling alongside a Hamas leader sanctioned by the Treasury Department, Mahmoud Al-Zahar. Mr. Sabbah contributed to articles published by CNN and the Associated Press throughout the war in Gaza. Following HonestReporting’s exposé, CNN announced that it had “reviewed” his content and felt “comfortable that it meets our standards,” while also stating it would not use his material going forward given his “highly offensive” social media posts.In spite of his public break with CNN, Mr. Sabbah was taken on by Drop Site News, where he contributed to an article as recently as April 1. Drop Site has faced heightened scrutiny in recent weeks after it published a false report sourced from Iranian state media claiming that America had sought to kill its own trapped servicemember. Citing the Iranian state-linked outlet Tasnim News, Drop Site alleged that Washington had “lost hope” of recovering the missing crewman and had resorted to bombing the area where he was last seen in an effort to eliminate him. The report gained wider attention after it was shared by Joe Kent, a former counterterrorism officer who resigned in opposition to the war in Gaza. Days later, President Trump announced that the American military had extracted the crewman in a successful rescue operation.Drop Site was founded by journalists Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill in 2024 and has drawn controversy for its stridently anti-Israel coverage. Last year, the outlet received a quarter of a million dollars from a foundation tied to left-wing philanthropist George Soros to expand its Middle East desk.Its publisher, Nika Soon-Shiong, is the daughter of LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong. She previously claimed that her family blocked the paper from endorsing Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 election to protest the war in Gaza, though the Times has disputed her account.Mr. Fischberger contends that Mr. Sabbah is one of several Drop Site contributors with ties to terrorist organizations or records of praising terror groups online. His Substack documents at least four such contributors, with evidence of their pro-terror views or affiliations.

Soros-Backed Drop Site News Employs Palestinian Reporter Fired by CNN Over Hamas Ties

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