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Voice of America Whitewashes Terror Backgrounds of Gazan Journalists
In the early morning hours of March 18, 2024, Israeli forces raided Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza to remove the Hamas presence that had re-emerged months after being routed by the Israeli military in November 2023.
According to the IDF, 40 Hamas terrorists were killed during the gun battle that ensued, and 200 others were detained as suspected terror operatives.
One of those detained was Ismail Al-Ghoul, who identified himself as an Al Jazeera journalist.
Voice of America (VOA) dedicated an entire piece to Al-Ghoul’s arrest and subsequent release, as well as claims about Israeli treatment of Palestinian journalists throughout the war between Israel and Hamas.
However, this piece was a one-sided attack on Israel’s conduct during the war which ignores vital context, disregards emerging information about Al-Ghoul’s connection to Hamas, and misrepresents Israel’s treatment of Palestinian journalists.
IDF: Troops raid Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, battle Hamas members holed up inside https://t.co/kYYwFpD4Ke
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) March 18, 2024
VOA glaringly omits the vital context that the IDF raided Al-Shifa on specific intelligence that Hamas terrorists were once again present there. In fact, the word “Hamas” only appears once in the entire piece, a passing reference to the terror group’s October 7 invasion of southern Israel.
Without the necessary context, the average reader is left with the impression that Israel’s early morning raid on Al-Shifa was just a wanton exhibition of violence inside the Gaza Strip’s largest medical center.
The IDF says troops have so far killed more than 50 Hamas gunmen during its ongoing raid at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.
The operation, which began early Monday morning, is being carried out by the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, the 401st Armored Brigade, and the Shin Bet… pic.twitter.com/t0yBv9zbIY
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 19, 2024
Just as VOA ignores Hamas when describing the IDF raid in this report, it also completely disregards the Gaza-based terror organization when discussing Ismail Al-Ghoul.
According to the publicly-funded American media outlet, Al-Ghoul is an “Arabic-language correspondent” for the Qatar-based news network, Al Jazeera.
While it might be technically accurate, this banal description of Al-Ghoul is hardly a complete picture of who he is and what he stands for.
In the hours following his arrest, both Israeli analyst Eitan Fischberger and British investigative journalist David Collier did deep dives into Al-Ghoul’s background, unearthing his ties to Hamas as well as deleted social media accounts full of anti-Israel incitement, praise for terrorism, and glorification of internationally recognized terror groups.
Probably the most sophisticated Al Jazeera “journalist” psy-op yet:
You may have seen the headlines today about Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, who was apprehended by the IDF in Shifa Hospital while it was battling terrorists.
Given the multiple instances since… pic.twitter.com/GemeIhzTxB
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 18, 2024
From Fischberger’s and Collier’s research, it appears that Ismail Al-Ghoul began working as a correspondent for Al Jazeera after October 7 and the beginning of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Prior to joining the Qatar-based broadcaster, Al-Ghoul worked for a variety of media outlets and “media production companies,” including the Hamas-affiliated outlets Felesteen and Al-Resalah.
It was also discovered that all of Al-Ghoul’s current social media accounts had been opened between November 2023 and February 2024, during his tenure at Al Jazeera.
According to Fischberger, the deletion of Al-Ghoul’s old social media accounts and their replacement with clean new ones is part of a “highly sophisticated, concerted effort” to “manufacture a ‘legitimate journalist’ out of whole cloth.”
In effect, Al-Ghoul appears to have rebranded himself as a respectable journalist instead of the mouthpiece for terrorism and incitement that is apparent in his now-deleted social media accounts.
10/ To clarify: al-Ghoul’s prior TikTok, X, and Instagram accounts were deleted. We know this because the usernames of his new accounts on the platforms all end with the number 2.
It’s no small feat to erase much of someone’s social media presence, create new profiles, and then… pic.twitter.com/LD3esrzwVa
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 18, 2024
Both Eitan Fischberger and David Collier have discovered posts from these accounts that glorify Palestinian terrorists, including Yahya Sinwar, the ruthless leader of Hamas in Gaza, who is thought to be primarily responsible for planning the October 7 terror attack, and members of the PFLP and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades who were killed in gun battles with Israeli security forces.
Along with his praise for Palestinian terrorists, Al-Ghoul also advocated terrorism against Israelis, uploading posts that celebrate rockets fired toward Israeli population centers and lone-wolf terror attacks conducted against Israeli civilian targets.
In addition, Al-Ghoul also incited against the Jewish state, referring to Israel in one post as “the greatest epidemic.”
Following its coverage of Al-Ghoul’s arrest, VOA then sought to add context by referencing reports by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Israel’s treatment of Palestinian journalists during the war.
However, much like its description of Ismail Al-Ghoul, VOA leaves out vital information.
For example, it reports that, according to the CPJ, 90 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed so far during the war.
What’s missing from this statistic is the fact that a substantial number of these media personnel worked for Hamas-affiliated news organizations.
In late February 2024, HonestReporting discovered that, based on information provided by the CPJ and the Meir Amit Intelligence and Information Center, over half the journalists killed in Gaza were members of or affiliated with a proscribed terror organization.
Even though the CPJ mentions the terror affiliations of several journalists in its own report, VOA remains mum on the subject, leaving its readers with the impression that all these journalists were deliberately targeted by Israel for their reporting.
Similarly, VOA reports that, based on a CPJ report, Israel is a “leading jailer of journalists,” having arrested 17 Palestinian journalists since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
Once again, this statistic lacks vital context.
As pointed out by the Committee For Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA UK), the CPJ notes that two of these journalists were arrested for “incitement,” a charge that exists in other Western countries.
In addition, CAMERA UK lists several more of these Palestinian journalists who have either publicly endorsed terrorism or worked for outlets that advocate attacks against Israeli civilians.
This context is necessary to dispel the false impression that these journalists were arrested by Israeli authorities simply to stifle their free speech.
Sadly, @pressfreedom knows that the only way to draw attention to 242 journalists listed is to focus on 17 it claims Israel has jailed.
Did CPJ even bother to find out how many of the 17 are affiliated with Palestinian terror orgs or were actively involved in terror activities? https://t.co/fYjxR6XgKm
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 18, 2024
When VOA and other media organizations accuse Israel of deliberately killing Palestinian journalists while whitewashing the close connection between Gazan journalists and internationally recognized terror groups, it’s both context-free journalism and a contributor to anti-Israel sentiment.
In the end, this not only harms Israel’s fight against terrorism but also does a disservice to champions of press freedom and integrity in Gaza and around the world.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Voice of America Whitewashes Terror Backgrounds of Gazan Journalists first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays
A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.
The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.
“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.
“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.
The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”
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Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.
Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.
The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.
ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK
He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.
US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.
Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.
Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.
It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.
Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.
Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.
Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.
“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.
Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.
Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.
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Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
i24 News – An Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.
Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.
On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”
A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”
Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.
Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.
Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.