Media watchdog calls out bias reporting in UK on Israel’s war on Gaza
A report by a media watchdog has revealed the UK’s media bias in covering the Hamas attack on October 7 and Israel’s response. “Much of the news coverage of 7 October refers to Hamas’s attacks on Southern Israel as ground zero, with guests or commentators who try and explain the 75-year-old occupation of Palestine being accused by some presenters and columnists as justifying the attacks,” the report by Centre for Media Monitoring said.
By ignoring the context and history of the occupation of Palestine and Gaza in particular, the report said the media landscape has been “favourable to an Israeli narrative which has constantly promoted the attacks on Gaza and in the West Bank as a war between light and darkness”.
The report also called out treating the Israeli military as a credible source without subjecting it to further verification as “one of the glaring failures of journalists and media outlets”.
Difference in the use of language has also been a regular feature of coverage, the report says, with Palestinian deaths often underplayed compared with those of Israelis.
Pro-Palestinian voices and activists have been routinely denounced, misrepresented and targeted by many national media outlets, it says, adding the right-wing media have been particularly hostile towards pro-Palestinian voices, framing them as supporters of terrorism and anti-Semites as well as being hostile to British values.
Journalist Mehdi Hasan launches Gaza misinformation series
British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan has launched a new series which sets out to debunk misinformation around Israel’s war on Gaza.
“Israeli officials have told so many lies since October 7 with so little pushback from the media that it’s hard to keep up. So here, from Zeteo, is the first in a new segment we’re calling, ‘The top seven lies about Gaza debunked’,” he says in a video posted on X.
Hasan, who most recently worked for MSNBC, launched his own media company, Zeteo, in January.
"We must call out those dangerous lies even if others in our media won't"
My new video series 'Debunked!' just launched for @zeteo_news. The first episode is devoted to debunking the top seven lies about Gaza & October 7th.
(Oh & do pls subscribe here: https://t.co/Nj0IOnvnyk) pic.twitter.com/D7PiCJWTkk
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 5, 2024
Sudden silence from Palestinian fighters on attacks against Israeli forces: Monitors
Five Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip did not report any attacks on Tuesday, while two other groups reported one attack each against Israel’s military in the enclave. In what monitors described as “anomalously low” reports of fighting, the drop followed a day after Palestinian armed groups said on Monday that they had launched at least 15 onslaughts against Israeli forces in Gaza.
“This drop in claims represents a sharp decrease in Palestinian militia activity across the Gaza Strip, but it does not indicate that Israeli action has destroyed or defeated Hamas,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) said.
According to the ISW and CTP, both US-based defence think tanks, there are two possible conclusions to be drawn from the silence: Israeli forces are no longer permanently present in Gaza City, therefore there are fewer targets for Palestinian fighters to attack. Or, Palestinian fighters have encountered communications problems – though this would hardly affect all groups simultaneously, the monitors said.
“Palestinian militias appear to conduct a spirited defence when Israeli forces do present themselves as targets deep in the Gaza Strip,” the ISW/CTP also noted, adding that Palestinian fighters attacked Israeli forces 92 times in 11 days during Israel’s recent operation to clear the Zeitoun neighbourhood.
Israeli ministers hail plans to build 3,500 new settlement homes
An Israeli settlement-planning authority has pushed forward permits for 3,500 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, according to an announcement by Israeli Minister of National Missions Orit Strock.
Pending final approval, the homes are to be built in the Israeli settlements of Maale Adumim, Kedar and Efrat, which are all close to Jerusalem, reports The Times of Israel. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the new planned settlements will add to a record number approved for the occupied West Bank this year. “The enemies try to harm and weaken us but we will continue to build and be built up in this land,” he wrote on X.
Israel is avoiding ceasefire demands, Hamas says
Hamas says it has shown the flexibility required to reach a truce that stops the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people but Israel is evading demands for a ceasefire. These demands include a permanent ceasefire, the return of the displaced Palestinians in Gaza to their homes, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid.
“We will continue to negotiate through our brotherly mediators to reach an agreement that fulfils the demands and interests of our people,” Hamas said in a statement.
No more weapons to Israel, says Bernie Sanders
Senator Bernie Sanders has once again urged the US government to halt arms shipments to Israel, saying “there should be no more money for the Netanyahu war machine”. Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, has in recent months grown more vocally critical of Israel’s war in Gaza and US military backing for Israel.
In January, Sanders introduced a resolution to condition US security aid to Israel on whether the country is committing human rights abuses in its war in Gaza. The Senate overwhelmingly voted to kill the resolution.
A majority of Americans now believe that — due to the horrific humanitarian disaster in Gaza — the U.S. should block new arms shipments to Israel.
I agree.
There should be no more U.S. money for the Netanyahu war machine. https://t.co/vAmE2xC4FM
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 6, 2024
Canada said to resume funding for UNRWA: Report
Canada’s CBC News is reporting that the Canadian government has decided to resume funding for UNRWA after seeing an interim report examining Israeli claims that around a dozen of the agency’s staff took part in Hamas’s October 7 attacks. The Canadian broadcaster cited a senior government official in its report.
The source, who was not authorised to speak publicly, told CBC News that the Canadian government “is comfortable resuming funding” based on the interim findings of the UN inquiry into Israel’s allegations. UNRWA has previously said that Israel has failed to provide additional information to back its claims.
CBC News said Canada will go ahead with a scheduled payment in April of $25m and is set to announce further funding.
Bombed, starved, displaced – Israel’s war on Gaza’s children
A Palestinian child suffering from malnutrition receives treatment at a healthcare centre in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 4, 2024
Palestinian children suffering from malnutrition receive treatment at a healthcare centre in Rafah on March 5, 2024
Palestinian children receive cooked food rations as part of a volunteer youth initiative in Rafah on March 5, 2024
Death toll in Gaza rises
At least 30,717 people have been killed and 72,156 wounded by Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. In the last 24 hours, Israeli attacks have killed 86 people and wounded 113 in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry says the death toll from malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza has risen to 18.
