Following senior officials’ lead, many prominent Western news outlets started linking Hamas to hospitals in Gaza.
by Matthew Petti, Responsible Statecraft
Western media never had any problem with health statistics from Gaza — until Israel was accused of bombing a hospital there. For years, English-speaking journalists straightforwardly cited reports from the “Palestinian health ministry in Gaza,” using its official name. But after the October 17 attack on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, media outlets began portraying the ministry as an arm of the rebel force Hamas.
Foreign journalists had struggled to make sense of the carnage on October 17, and whether Israeli or Palestinian forces were to blame. The New York Times edited its headline several times, and initially reports may have overstated how many hundreds died. The Israeli army and U.S. President Joe Biden took advantage of the confusion to cast doubt on the truthfulness of Gaza’s medical authorities.
The stakes are critical. The health ministry has reported over 11,000 Palestinian deaths, nearly half a percent of Gaza’s entire population, including thousands of children. Even though U.S. officials have come to accept the accuracy of those numbers, the damage to the health ministry’s credibility is done.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has moved from attacking the health authorities’ claims to marking them as military targets. Israeli forces raided Al-Shifa Hospital, the health ministry’s headquarters, on Wednesday. Hundreds of doctors, patients, and displaced people have evacuated since. The health ministry has reported severe difficulties updating the death toll due to Israeli attacks, communications blackouts, and the sheer volume of casualties.
Recent Posts
The Pentagon Asked OpenAI for Artificial Intelligence Designed to Rarely Say No
Take Action Now The U.S. military’s desire for an AI tool with “minimal refusal rates” was revealed through a FOIA lawsuit filed by The Intercept.…
Real History: After 9/11, the ‘War on Terror’ Was a War of Terror
Take Action Now Through it all, the ongoing war effort that began in autumn 2001 had an implicit throughline in dominant media and politics: while…
Abolish the Board of Peace. Try the Table of Peace.
Take Action Now I asked people to pretend to be the United States Congress for 10 seconds. (Many of them were disgusted at the thought but I assured…
Black Power, White Heat, and the Work of Solidarity
Take Action Now What a history of the 1960s can teach us about organizing in an authoritarian ageBy Alexandria Shaner, Z Network There is a…