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‘Apartheid,’ ‘Brutal Attacks,’ and ‘War Machine’: The Anti-Israeli Posts of Reuters Bureau Chief Exposed
Israeli forces stand near the scene of a shooting attack in Jaffa, Israel, Oct. 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Timour Azhari should have known better. As the Iraq Bureau Chief for Reuters, who currently covers the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, he is supposed to act as a role model for professional journalism.
Instead, his X (formerly Twitter) account reveals anti-Israel bias that casts doubt on his objectivity.
And it’s not just him: among his followers are top Reuters editors. They either knew about his posts and kept quiet, or had no idea about his activity — either of which point to the decline of journalistic standards in what used to be a respected news agency.
Meet Timour Azhari. He’s the @Reuters bureau chief in Iraq. He’s now reporting from Lebanon on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Some of his tweets make us wonder whether he can report objectively. Take a look below. pic.twitter.com/45hF66Nywm
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 13, 2024
Apartheid and “Terror”
Two posts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict expose Azhari’s true colors.
The first was posted during the Israel-Hamas conflict in May 2021, when Azhari was Reuters’ Lebanon correspondent. In it, he advises journalists to mention that “Israel is committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians,” otherwise their stories would be “lacking.”
He solidifies this so-called journalistic advice by attributing the accusation to “top human rights” organizations B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch — two agenda-driven non-governmental organizations that place their politicized agendas above the human rights they claim to be protecting:
If this is the manipulative editorializing Azhari practiced as a correspondent, it’s alarming to think about how he mentors his team as a bureau chief.
In a more recent second post, Azhari put the word “terror” in quotation marks in a post about the October 1 Jaffa shooting and stabbing attack, where two Palestinians murdered seven innocent Israelis:
The quotation marks are redundant because of the attribution to the Israeli police. So the message is clear: For Azhari, this brutal attack cannot be labeled as terrorist.
Israel’s “War Machine”
But Azhari has no problem saying that Israel’s acts of self-defense are “brutal.”
That’s the word Azhari chose to describe Israel’s retaliation against Hezbollah, which started firing at its northern communities on October 8, 2023:
And here, he labeled Israel as a “war machine,” forgetting perhaps that Hezbollah is the most heavily armed non-state actor in the world:
If this is the anti-Israel editorializing that Azhari is posting on his social media, how can he be trusted to report objectively for Reuters on the current conflict?
Although Azhari’s background as the Beirut reporter for the Qatari-funded Al Jazeera, may explain why he would not think about filtering views which would not have raised any eyebrows on the Hamas sympathizing network.
How can news consumers trust Reuters when such a “journalist” handles its Mideast coverage?
HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post ‘Apartheid,’ ‘Brutal Attacks,’ and ‘War Machine’: The Anti-Israeli Posts of Reuters Bureau Chief Exposed first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.