Israel-Hamas war: Top 10 times the media got it wrong on Gaza - opinion

The credibility of the media covering Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has repeatedly and consistently been called into question by a series of mistakes, mess-ups, and misfires.

By GIL HOFFMAN
An explosion takes place during Israeli airstrikes over Gaza, November 22, 2023 (photo credit: REUTERS/ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO)
An explosion takes place during Israeli airstrikes over Gaza, November 22, 2023
(photo credit: REUTERS/ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO)

The war between Israel and Hamas will enter its 50th day on Saturday. 

Before the October 7 massacre, could anyone have imagined US President Joe Biden and the rest of the international community enabling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fight a war in Gaza for 50 days?

After all, the Israeli government came under heavy pressure to end other recent operations in Gaza that lasted only a few days.

So how has Israel been able to sustain the current war for so long?

There are many obvious answers, including the justice of retaliation for the abhorrent Hamas attacks, and the realization that defeating Hamas helps anti-terror efforts around the world, internal Israeli unity, and domestic American politics.

NEWSFLASH, CNN: The most densely populated city is faraway Manila. (credit: Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)
NEWSFLASH, CNN: The most densely populated city is faraway Manila. (credit: Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)

My answer is different. The abundance of pressure on the international community to get Israel to end the war prematurely would have come – directly or indirectly – from the media in the US and other key countries. And let’s just say, to put it mildly, that this war has not been the international media’s finest hour.

The credibility of the media covering the war has repeatedly and consistently been called into question by a series of mistakes, mess-ups, and misfires that have resulted in there being more time in the IDF’s proverbial hourglass.

The top 10 media blunders in chronological order: 

Oct. 10: CNN props up the population of Gaza

CNN anchor John Vause claims that “nine million Palestinians live in Gaza” – off by a whopping seven million. He also calls Gaza one of the “most densely populated areas on Earth,” even though it isn’t among the top 50. 

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“Geez you got me... I misspoke,” he said in an apology on X (formerly Twitter) about the population. But he defended his other error, despite the facts. The most densely populated city is faraway Manila.

Oct. 11: Appalling vetting by AP 

Just four days into the war, the pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting revealed that the main Associated Press reporter covering the conflict in Gaza had used his social media accounts to compare Israel to the Nazis and publicly call for a “Palestinian revolt” and the annihilation of the Jewish state. Issam Adwan’s reports for AP had painted Israel as the aggressor, ignored Hamas’s massacre, and parroted Hamas’s talking points. He was suspended pending an investigation, and his byline has not been seen since. But the question remains: What is there to investigate if his social media posts were in clear English?

Oct. 17: Al Ahli Hospital hoax

Media outlets around the world reported the unsubstantiated claims by the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry that the IDF had purposely bombed Gaza’s Al Ahli Hospital and killed 500 people, without verifying or receiving a shred of evidence. It was hard for Israel to get the media to change their story – even after they were provided with solid proof that it was the hospital’s parking lot that had been hit, and by a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket. Sky News still reported last week that the hospital was “hit by an Israeli missile.” The high-profile incident severely harmed trust in the media, which has not been regained.

Oct. 19: ‘The New York Times’ Nazi 

America’s newspaper of record shamelessly rehired Nazi-sympathizing freelancer Soliman Hijjy, who contributed to the deceitful coverage about the hospital. Last year, HonestReporting exposed Hijjy’s Facebook post from 2012. “How great you are, Hitler,” Hijjy wrote alongside a meme of the Nazi mass murderer. Six years later, he wrote that he was “in a state of harmony as Hitler was during the Holocaust.” Hiijy’s byline was not seen for a year after the newspaper announced that it had “taken appropriate action,” but it returned on October 12. The New York Times initially defended his rehiring, but he has had no byline since October 19.

Oct. 28: ‘Daily Mail’ finds Gaza’s West Bank 

“Hamas calls on Palestinians in Gaza’s West Bank to ‘mobilize’ as terrorists say: ‘If you have a rifle... you should either kill a Jew or give it to Hamas,’” the British news website reported in a reefer from one Gaza story to another. The West Bank (Judea and Samaria) is run by the Palestinian Authority and is geographically separate from Hamas-run Gaza.

The box with the obvious mistake is still online more than three weeks later, calling all the Mail’s reporting into question. 

Oct. 30: CNN credits Hamas for rescued soldier’s ‘release’

Kidnapped IDF private Ori Megidish was rescued during the army’s operation in Gaza in one of the war’s rare uplifting moments. But CNN and other media outlets rained on the parade by reporting incorrectly that she “had been released.” CNN thankfully corrected the headline a few hours later. 

Nov. 6: NBC says dead LA Jew just hit his head

Paul Kessler, 69, died from blunt-force head trauma following a confrontation with a counterprotester amid simultaneous pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Thousand Oaks in Greater Los Angeles, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said. The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office said Kessler suffered skull fractures and swelling and bruising of the brain and determined his death to be a homicide. 

But NBC’s headline downplayed Kessler’s death and made it seem self-inflicted: “Jewish man dies after hitting head in altercation.” 

CNN’s initial headline was no better: “Arrest made in death of Jewish protester who fell and hit his head.”

Nov. 8: CNN, AP fire photographer after expose

HonestReporting made headlines around the world by questioning how Gazan photographers came into Israel relatively early into the events of October 7. Pictures by photographers who infiltrated from Gaza were published around the world thanks to AP and Reuters. CNN and AP both fired photographer Hassan Eslaiah, who took photos of a burning Israeli tank, and then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Aza. 

But they should not have hired Eslaiah, whose strong support for Hamas killing Jews could have easily been discovered with simple vetting of his social media posts. A photo surfaced showing Eslaiah with Hamas leader and massacre mastermind Yahya Sinwar.

Marwat Al-Azza, who was employed by NBC, was arrested on November 16 in Jerusalem on suspicion of inciting terrorism and identifying with a terrorist organization following Facebook posts praising the massacre.

Nov. 15: BBC says sorry twice

The British Broadcasting Corporation is usually a tough nut to crack when attempting to obtain apologies for even the most egregious errors. That is why November 15 was such a historic day. The BBC apologized for its incorrect Israel-related coverage not once, but twice. After initially reporting that “medical teams and Arabic speakers were being targeted” by the IDF at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, the BBC corrected the error and admitted that the actual facts were that IDF forces who entered Shifa included medical teams and Arabic speakers to ease tension.

“This error fell below our usual editorial standards,” the presenter said. 

Hours later, a BBC report that said the Washington, DC, pro-Israel rally was attended by 10,000 people was also changed after it was pointed out that the number was actually 290,000. 

Nov. 18: ‘Haaretz’ blames IDF for massacre 

A military helicopter firing at terrorists at the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im harmed Jews, Haaretz claimed in a report that it said was based on a police investigation. The report was picked up around the world, boosting Hamas claims that Israelis had actually killed themselves on October 7. The police quickly refuted the report, saying: “No indication was given of any harm to civilians caused by aerial activity at the Nova music festival.” 

The writer is the executive director and executive editor of HonestReporting. He served as chief political correspondent and analyst of The Jerusalem Post for 24 years.



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