The Media’s Starving Gazan Images: Narrative & Reality

Over the past few months, the news has been awash with reports on the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The media has picked up every story put out by Hamas without any checking.

Even as Israel increased the level of humanitarian aid entering the embattled coastal enclave, gradually reducing the intensity of the crisis, the media has not slowed down its onslaught of coverage.

Traditional news sites and online personalities have attempted to illustrate the severity of the situation and to frame a narrative of famine by focusing on individual cases of malnutrition.

Analyses conducted by The Free Press, investigative reporter David Collier, and others have, however, discovered that many of those profiled have suffered from pre-existing conditions that have been exacerbated by the humanitarian crisis. In many cases, the media did not initially provide its audience with this necessary information. With the rate of interfamily marriage within the Gazan community, genetic illnesses are very common.

While there is no doubt that the treatment of these pre-existing conditions has been hampered by the ongoing war, as well as the stealing of aid by Hamas and local gangs, and inflated food prices, it was pure media manipulation to place a focus on already-sick people and attempt to portray their suffering as solely the product of Israel’s war against Hamas.

The following are some of those with pre-existing health conditions who have been profiled by the mainstream media and by influential accounts on social media:

Mohammed Al-Mutawaq His emaciated body was splashed across the front pages of a variety of newspapers, including The New York Times and The Daily Express. No mention of him suffering from cerebral palsy.

Osama Al-Raqab The images of five-year-old Osama Al-Raqab first appeared in the media in April and May. Suffering from cystic fibrosis, Al-Raqab was transferred on June 12 to Italy for advanced treatment. However, this did not stop some media outlets from using his image more recently, devoid of any medical information or context.

Karam Khaled Al-Jamal. In late July, Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye reported that 27-year-old Karam Khaled Al-Jamal had passed away from starvation and “lack of proper nutrition.” No mention that he suffered from muscular dystrophy and partial paralysis since birth. 

Abdullah Abu Zarqa In late July, the images of a gaunt 4-year-old spread online, including a video of him saying that he was hungry. An investigation by the IDF found that Abu Zarqa suffers from “a genetic disease causing deficiencies, osteoporosis and bone thinning.” Four months prior to the Hamas invasion of southern Israel that precipitated the current war in Gaza, Abu Zarqa travelled to eastern Jerusalem with his mother for medical treatment. 

Mosab al-Debs. 14-year-old Mosab al-Debs’ image was used by a number of mainstream media outlets, including the BBC, Reuters, and CNN, portraying him as suffering from malnourishment amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. What these reports failed to report is that al-Debs was a special case, requiring a special feeding tube due to a brain injury he received a year prior.

 Hamza Mishmish. In a late July piece on the ongoing situation in Gaza, NPR attached a photo of an emaciated 25-year-old Hamza Mishmish being carried in the arms of another man, apparently due to “severe malnutrition and bone loss.” However, Hamza’s caretaker explained that he has an “extremely weak” immune system, suffers from cerebral palsy, and has been afflicted with other illnesses since birth. None of which was mentioned in the NPR report.

There is undoubtedly a serious humanitarian situation occurring in the Gaza Strip. However, the causes and the solutions are more complex and nuanced than the simplistic anti-Israel narrative promoted by the media and influential social media accounts.

When the media and online personalities try to deceive their audience by passing off photos of ill Gazans suffering from long-term ailments as evidence for wide-scale starvation and malnutrition in Gaza, they are not only misrepresenting reality but are falling short of their journalistic duty to report the truth.

For the full report from Honest Reporting, go to https://honestreporting.com/the-medias-starving-gazan-images-narrative-reality/

 

 

 

Hostage Families Demands is Music to Hamas

In a press conference on Sunday morning, the October Council—consisting of hostages’ families, bereaved relatives of Oct. 7 victims and mothers of reservists read statements aloud conveyed a uniform message to the powers-that-be in Jerusalem: End the war and bring home all the hostages. Their plea for a deal to return the captives held by Hamas for the past 22 months isn’t new.

On the contrary, accusing the government of pursuing its goals in Gaza at the expense of the hostages has become a protest-movement mantra that every Israeli knows by heart and it’s a narrative backed by the mainstream Israeli media and embraced by Hamas.

Former political/military officials whose hatred for Bibi outweighs any vestige of patriotism they once possessed go even further. They’re perpetuating the lie, spread by the Jewish state’s most virulent enemies, that Israel is guilty of war crimes also embraced by Hamas

Again, nothing novel about the noxious noise that’s music to Hamas’s ears. Ditto for the call to paralyze the economy via the revival of the general-strike idea.

But the current attempt to pressure the premier into meeting unreasonable demands came on the heels of the announcement that Israel would be taking over Gaza City. The Cabinet approved the plan after a 10-hour session, during which ministers debated among themselves and with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir about how to proceed in the face of a failed “negotiation” process with Hamas.  

The upshot was a diluted version of the original proposal to take military control of the entire Strip. Nevertheless, the protest movement went into high gear, hysterically citing a leaked statement attributed to Zamir—that the operation would result in the death of the hostages and hundreds of soldiers.

There’s no concrete evidence that Zamir actually expressed such a sentiment. In fact he publicly stated that the Israel Defense Forces under his command would implement with vigor the course of action agreed upon by the political echelon.

This isn’t the reason that the Histadrut labor federation, which represents some 800,000 Israeli trade unionists, isn't endorsing the strike, however. No, it supports the protest movement in principle. This also is music to Hamas’s ears.

But the general strike it staged last September to pressure the government to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas did little more than disrupt the lives of Israelis in a way that wasn’t helpful to the cause.

Aside from that, it turns out that the bulk of the workforce under the Histadrut umbrella is on vacation until the end of August. As for the hi-tech sector, which has said it will join the strike: One employee in that sector quipped that Sundays are very light on the keyboard in any case, so techies staying home on Aug. 17 will hardly be affected.

In an interesting twist, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum hasn’t lent its support to the event—or at least not yet. Perhaps its leadership was waiting to hear what Netanyahu had to say to the foreign press on Sunday afternoon, and later that evening to the Hebrew-language media, before settling on a strategy.

Speaking to journalists, Netanhahu said was that he was done with the “drips and drabs”—that he was aiming for the release of all 20 of the hostages. This was a reference to the captives who are still alive.

Still, the fear that the intention to defeat rather than deal with Hamas could easily be sidetracked wasn’t baseless. It stemmed, among other reasons, from reports of a meeting on Saturday in Ibiza, Spain between U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani. Not a good sign.

To make matters more suspicious—or precarious—the Qatari news outlet Al Araby Al Jadeed, said that a delegation of Hamas leaders landed in Egypt on Monday to resume “ceasefire talks” where they left off. You know, with Hamas basking in the global campaign blaming Israel for a fake famine on Gaza, while refusing to release the hostages whose actual starvation it’s been filming for added torture. Just as it video-documented the atrocities it committed on Oct, 7, 2023—for the whole world to see. And conveniently forget.

When did cutting off one’s own nose ever succeed in spiting his foe’s face? The answer is that the protest movement considers Netanyahu a greater enemy than Hamas. Its prominent members have gone so far as to admit it, loudly and proudly and this is music to Hamas’s ears.

 (Based on article by Ruthie Blum at https://tinyurl.com/ynm3m637  )

Why is Israel the Bad Guy when Fighting Back?

 

In the Aftermath of Oct.7th Israel Must Lead

 

Nearly 22 months have passed since the October 7 massacre—the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Over 1,200 civilians and soldiers were murdered. Entire families were incinerated. Babies were decapitated. Women were gang-raped—some beside the bodies of their children. Holocaust survivors were dragged bleeding into captivity. Soldiers were executed in their sleep.

 

More than 250 civilians and soldiers were abducted into Gaza. Fifty hostages remain. Children. Parents. Elderly. Holocaust survivors. Forgotten by the world.

 

Held underground in Hamas tunnels, they are denied sunlight, medicine, and increasingly, food. Many are now being left to starve in darkness, while Hamas leaders dine on stolen humanitarian aid. There is food in Gaza—Hamas has it. The hostages do not.

 

And yet, international pressure focuses on Israeli restraint rather than the survival of these innocent hostages.

 

🎗️ 22 MONTHS. 50 HOSTAGES. GLOBAL SILENCE.

 

Where is the outrage? Where is the Red Cross? Where are the international journalists?

 

If these hostages were European, UN planes would be landing daily. But they are Jewish. So they are ignored.

 

Their families live in torment. The world scrolls on. We must not.

 

🏛️ THE UN PREPARES TO RECOGNIZE A PALESTINIAN STATE—WHILE HOSTAGES REMAIN IN GAZA

 

Next month, at the UN General Assembly, global leaders are preparing to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

 

Not to demand the release of hostages.

Not to sanction Hamas.

Not to investigate the October 7 massacre.

But to reward terror.

 

How can statehood be granted while victims of mass murder still rot in tunnels?

What message does this send other than: “Massacre Jews, get borders”?

This is not a peace plan. It is appeasement. It is the political legitimization of barbarism.

 

💥 THIS IS A REGIONAL WAR—NOT JUST GAZA

 

This war didn’t begin in Gaza—and it won’t end there. Israel is battling a coordinated, Iran-backed, eight-front assault:

 

1. Gaza – Hamas fights like a militia and continues to regroup.

2. Judea and Samaria – Iran and Hamas incite armed cells to destabilize from within.

3. Lebanon – Hezbollah has paused mass rocket fire, but Israel continues striking operatives daily.

4. Syria – Iranian militias are embedded and preparing for future escalation.

5. Yemen – The Houthis launch long-range missiles, including a direct strike on Ben Gurion Airport.

6. Cyberwarfare – Iranian proxies target Israel’s healthcare, civil, and military systems.

7. Information warfare – Hamas dominates global media. Israel lags behind.

8. Iran itself – A 12-day war saw Iran firing missiles—including nuclear-capable ones—from its own soil. The war ended, but the nuclear threat remains. The region sits on a powder keg.

 

This is not a border dispute. This is a fight for survival. And by extension, a defense of the West’s values.