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New Report Proves Gaza Casualty Numbers Are a Lie — the Media Still Reports Them

People demonstrate in the city of Santander, Spain, under the motto ‘Let’s stop the genocide in Gaza,’ on Jan. 20, 2024. Photo: Joaquin Gomez Sastre/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect

A new report by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) reveals what has been obvious all along: The death toll provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza does not add up.

Despite the Palestinian casualty figures being disputed by Israel, this hasn’t stopped most mainstream media outlets from treating them with barely deserved credibility.

The HJS report analyzed a collection of 1,378 articles published by leading English-language newspapers and media outlets, specifically The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, and the Australian ABC.

The findings are staggering:

  • 84% of the publications analyzed failed to make the critical distinction in total numbers between combatant deaths and civilian deaths.   
  • In 19% of the publications analyzed, the numbers of fatalities provided by Hamas-run institutions were used without citing any source, thereby suggesting those figures were undisputed.  
  • A mere 5% of outlets cited the casualty statistics provided by Israel; 98% cited figures by the Hamas-run MoH. The Israeli figures were questioned in half of the articles that cited them, whereas the Hamas figures were often taken at face value. 
  • Men were recorded in fatality lists as female when the same individual was reported as a male in the Palestinian Population Registry. Similarly, the ages of several fatalities have been found to be inaccurate — men in their twenties or thirties are reported as children and babies, skewing the reported number of women and children killed. 
  • There is a disproportionate number of young men of fighting age listed among the casualties. There is no differentiation between civilians and Hamas combatants. 
  • The figures reported by the Hamas-run MoH include those who died of natural causes.

These results underscore a clear pattern of Hamas systematically influencing the media’s perception of the war.

This is not the first time the death toll in Gaza has been inflated by Hamas. Hamas has striven to influence the media’s perception of its wars with Israel since at least 2009, aligning with the terror organization’s broader objective of influencing international opinion to garner sympathy and condemnation of Israeli actions.  

In past wars between Israel and Hamas, Hamas has issued guidelines that call on Palestinians to consider all casualties to be “innocent civilians.”  

However, these “innocent civilians” are frequently found to have connections with Hamas or other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.

How many news outlets will acknowledge the HJS report, or even cover it in their own stories?

Sadly we know the answer, because doing so would require them to admit to using inaccurate death tolls provided by Hamas. When Hamas has quietly revised the number of casualties, the media have turned the other way. What better way to villainize Israel while avoiding accountability for propagating false information provided by a terrorist organization?

This has had serious implications in media reporting of casualty numbers in recent months ,as outlets have claimed 70% of casualties in the war are women and children.

Not only were these reports using statistics with misleading sample sizes, but the added findings provided by the HJS report indicate that the misclassification of men as women, as well as other inaccuracies in casualty data from Hamas-run institutions, have further distorted these figures.  

Andrew Fox, the author of the report asserted “This misclassification contributes to the narrative that civilian populations, particularly women and children, bear the brunt of the conflict, potentially influencing sentiment and media coverage.”  

It is undeniable that the casualty figures provided by Hamas are inaccurate and should not be relied on by any media outlet. Nonetheless, when asked for a response to the report by The Telegraph, the BBC claimed, “It is challenging to report accurately on the death toll in Gaza as Israel does not allow independent access to international journalists.”

Yet, the BBC does have correspondents in Gaza. Is the BBC acknowledging that it cannot trust its correspondents in Gaza to report on the war accurately or impartially? Perhaps BBC media workers in Gaza could investigate the casualty figures but that would necessitate the BBC having to publicly state that there is no press freedom in Gaza due to Hamas influence and control.

Hamas has enticed the media to push out a lie so extravagantly crafted that admitting the truth now after more than a year of war would cause embarrassment to the outlets that took a terrorist organization’s claims at face value.  

If Hamas’ own casualty figures don’t add up, neither do the media narratives that echo them.  

Born in Toronto, Sharon Levy moved to Israel in October 2023 and has held various roles in Israel advocacy and research institutions. Sharon has a Masters degree in Government with a specialization in Counterterrorism and Cyber Security from Reichman University. 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 New Report Proves Gaza Casualty Numbers Are a Lie — the Media Still Reports Them first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated

An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF

i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.

In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.

Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.

i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.

“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”

The post Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81

FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.

The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.

As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.

Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.

During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.

He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.

Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”

The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.

Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.

“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.

“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”

The post Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Says Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of ‘Extremism’

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attends a news conference at the Arab Gulf Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 9, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government’s refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the West Bank showed its “extremism and rejection of peace.”

His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

“Israel’s refusal of the committee’s visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway… It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance,” the Saudi minister said.

On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said.

Bin Farhan’s visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory.

An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in a “provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was “killing any chance of a just and comprehensive” Arab-Israeli settlement.

An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them.

The post Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Says Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of ‘Extremism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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