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Al Jazeera Promotes Inflammatory Documentary Claiming an IDF War on Gaza Hospitals
The Al Jazeera Media Network logo is seen on its headquarters building in Doha, Qatar, June 8, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon
There’s a destructive rumor that Israel and the IDF are committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Qatari-owned propaganda machine Al Jazeera has often perpetuated this false narrative.
Time and time again, the network ignores evidence, employs questionable “journalists” on the ground in Gaza, and leaves out important context when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Al Jazeera’s video, “Gaza: The War on Hospitals,” has garnered upwards of 175,000 views on YouTube since it was published on June 1, 2024.
Its main narrative is that Israel is deliberately “targeting and bombing” health facilities and killing health workers in order to a) collapse the health infrastructure in the Strip, and b) expel Palestinian civilians from the northern Gaza Strip, even if that means many of them are killed along the way.
Coincidentally, Qatar has hosted Hamas leaders and has been a financier for Hamas activities in Gaza, so Al Jazeera and Hamas are interconnected in a strange web of funds and agendas.
Here are several points — out of many — that must be debunked.
1. Al Jazeera claim: Today’s “expulsion” of Gazans from the northern Gaza Strip and anywhere else in Gaza over the last 10 months by the IDF is a “Nakba” repeat.
Why it’s false: The IDF’s intent is not to “expel” Gaza civilians or to massacre them. Hamas terrorists plant themselves in civilian areas purposely. The IDF warning civilians to leave for their own safety is not a “threat” or a method of “ethnic cleansing” — it is for their own benefit. By doing so, the IDF also loses its element of surprise and puts its soldiers in more danger.
In every ceasefire-hostage deal discussed, there was never a question of whether Gazans would remain in Gaza. This is just a temporary maneuver because, just as in each area the IDF has fought in, getting civilians out of a war zone is crucial to minimizing deaths.
2. Al Jazeera claim: Bombing and targeting hospitals is a “major war strategy” of the IDF.
Why it’s false: This is insinuating a strategy by the IDF to target civilians for some sort of nefarious purpose. Throughout the film, there is a major emphasis on Israel bombarding residential areas and medical facilities without any context, or mention of the fact that hostages were being held inside hospitals, and nearly no mention of a Hamas presence. But as previously stated, Hamas operates in hospitals, schools, mosques, and within residential areas. This is exactly the reason why the IDF warned civilians to evacuate the area.
3. Al Jazeera claim: Hospitals are systematically targeted, and the IDF targeted and killed sick people and families on their way to al Ahli Hospital and the Jordanian field hospital, and struck ambulances.
Why it’s false: This claim can be discredited with one fell swoop, as HonestReporting has previously exposed Al Jazeera interviewee Ghassan Abu Sitta as a limelight-lover who spreads conspiracies about Israel to the media.
In at least one instance on January 17, the IDF provided evidence opposing the claim that the Jordanian field hospital had been shelled and how civilians could have been caught in crossfire.
4. Al Jazeera claim: There is no definitive proof that Hamas is/was operating in any Gaza hospitals.
Why it’s false: When Hamas is finally mentioned more than halfway through the film, there is a denial that there was a Hamas presence at all in these hospitals. The IDF did not reveal its sources or how it knew for sure that hospitals like al Ahli or al Shifa were being used as Hamas command centers, but it did reveal what media-friendly evidence it could. IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a press conference back on October 27, 2023, that the rest of the evidence was shared with the international intelligence community, which corroborated its authenticity. In this video of a France 24 audio-recorded interview, a British doctor who worked at Al-Shifa hospital revealed that there were parts of the hospital used for “non-medical purposes.” HonestReporting also did its own investigation into Al-Shifa Hospital to verify the credibility of evidence that Hamas operated out of it.
5. Al Jazeera claim: The Al-Ahli hospital incident on October 17 was an IDF strike.
Why it’s false: In the early hours after the explosion, many publications, including Al Jazeera, among others, reported false casualty numbers and attributed blame to Israel without waiting for the facts to emerge. Sure enough, Human Rights Watch delivered an initial report of its findings, as well as French military intelligence. Both stated that the casualty figures were wrong, and that it was actually a failed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket that fell in the hospital’s parking lot, not an IDF strike on the hospital itself. But nearly a year later, Al Jazeera chooses to stick to its propaganda … unlike any reliable news source.
The film concludes with the following claim: Israel deliberately targets civilians “in what to many is a disproportionate form of collective punishment.”
The truth: In an urban environment like the Gaza Strip, where Hamas and PIJ position themselves in the midst of residential areas and humanitarian zones, the IDF’s mission of protecting civilians becomes enormously complicated and challenging.
While the IDF aims to minimize the loss of civilian lives and goes to great lengths to achieve this, the harsh reality of war and Hamas’ embedding in the civilian population sadly makes this unavoidable. Yet, as urban warfare expert John Spencer has said, the IDF has gone above and beyond in its methods to minimize harm to civilians.
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.
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Top US General Makes Unannounced Middle East Trip as Iran Threat Looms
US Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks at a conference of African chiefs of defense in Gaborone, Botswana on June 25, 2024, the first time a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top U.S. military officer, has visited sub-Saharan Africa in 30 years, according to the Pentagon. Photo: REUTERS/Phil Stewart/File Photo
The top US general began an unannounced visit to the Middle East on Saturday to discuss ways to avoid any new escalation in tensions that could spiral into a broader conflict, as the region braces for a threatened Iranian attack against Israel.
Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began his trip in Jordan and said he will also travel to Egypt and Israel in the coming days to hear the perspectives of military leaders.
His visit comes as the United States is trying to clinch an elusive Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, which Brown said would “help bring down the temperature,” if achieved.
“At the same time, as I talk to my counterparts, what are the things we can do to deter any type of broader escalation and ensure we’re taking all the appropriate steps to (avoid) … a broader conflict,” Brown told Reuters before landing in Jordan.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has been seeking to limit the fallout from the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, now in its 11th month. The conflict has leveled huge swathes of Gaza, triggered border clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and sparked attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on Red Sea shipping.
Meanwhile, US troops have been attacked by Iran-aligned militia in Syria, Iraq and Jordan. In recent weeks, the U.S. military has been bolstering its forces in the Middle East to guard against major new attacks by Iran or its allies, sending the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group into the region to replace the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group.
The United States has also sent an Air Force F-22 Raptor squadron into the region and deployed a cruise missile submarine.
“We brought in additional capability to send a strong message to deter a broader conflict … but also to protect our forces should they be attacked,” Brown said, saying safeguarding American forces was “paramount.”
IRANIAN RESPONSE
Iran has vowed a severe response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed or denied its involvement.
Hezbollah has also threatened a response after Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut last month.
Iran has not publicly indicated what would be the target of an eventual response to the Haniyeh assassination but U.S. officials say they are closely monitoring for any signs that Iran will make good on its threats.
“We stay postured, watching the (intelligence) and force movements,” Brown said. On Friday, Iran’s new Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his French and British counterparts in telephone conversations that it was his country’s right to retaliate, according to the official IRNA news agency.
On April 13, two weeks after two Iranian generals were killed in a strike on Tehran’s embassy in Syria, Iran unleashed a barrage of hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles towards Israel, damaging two air bases. Israel, the United States and other allies managed to destroy almost all of the weapons before they reached their targets.
Brown did not speculate about what Iran and its allies might do but said he hoped to discuss different scenarios with his Israeli counterpart.
“Particularly, as I engage with my Israeli counterpart, how they might respond, depending on the response that comes from Hezbollah or from Iran,” Brown said.
The current war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
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Gaza Talks Resume in Cairo
Illustrative. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meets with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran July 6, 2022. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS.
Gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiators discussed new compromise proposals in Cairo on Saturday, seeking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas as the UN reported worsening humanitarian conditions, with malnutrition soaring and polio discovered in the Palestinian enclave.
A Hamas delegation arrived on Saturday to be nearer at hand to review any proposals that emerge in the main talks between Israel and the mediating countries Egypt, Qatar and the United States, two Egyptian security sources said.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was expected to attend.
A US official said negotiators from the United States met with Egypt then bilaterally with Egypt and Qatar on Saturday, and believed that representatives from Egypt and Qatar were meeting with Hamas.
Months of on-off talks have failed to produce a breakthrough to end Israel’s military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.
The Egyptian sources said the new proposals include compromises on outstanding points such as how to secure key areas and the return of people to north Gaza.
However there was no sign of any breakthrough on key sticking points, including Israel’s insistence that it must retain control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, on the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Hamas has accused Israel of going back on things it had previously agreed to in the talks, which Israel denies. The group says the United States is not mediating in good faith.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has locked horns with Israeli ceasefire negotiators over whether Israeli troops must remain all along the border between Gaza and Egypt, a person with knowledge of the talks said.
A Palestinian official familiar with mediation efforts said it was too soon to predict the outcome of talks.
“Hamas is there to discuss the outcome of the mediators’ talks with the Israeli officials and whether there is enough to suggest a change in the Netanyahu stance about reaching a deal,” the official said.
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Soldier Killed in Central Gaza, Bringing IDF Death Toll to 696
Sgt. First Class (res.) Evyatar Atuar was killed in action in Gaza City, Aug. 23, 2024. Photo: IDF.
JNS.org – An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed and several others were wounded on Friday morning when Hamas terrorists detonated an explosive device in Gaza City.
The slain soldier was named as Sgt. First Class (res.) Evyatar Atuar, 24, of the 16th “Jerusalem” Infantry Brigade’s 6310th Battalion, from Rosh Haayin.
The brigade, part of the 252nd “Sinai” Division, was involved in expanding the IDF’s Netzarim Corridor, which separates Gaza’s north and south.
According to an initial probe, terrorists remote-detonated a bomb planted on a building’s outer wall after soldiers had entered to search it in the Zeitoun neighborhood.
At least four soldiers outside the structure were seriously wounded and three others were moderately hurt, the IDF said.
On Thursday, Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya, 19, a member of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 46th Battalion, was killed battling Hamas terrorists in the southern Gaza Strip.
A preliminary probe found that he was killed by anti-tank missile fire in Rafah.
Earlier this week, Lt. Shahar Ben Nun, 21, from the Paratrooper Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion, was killed by an IAF missile that malfunctioned during a strike in southern Gaza.
The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27 now stands at 333, and at 696 on all fronts since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, according to official military data.
Additionally, Ch. Insp. Arnon Zamora, a member of the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded during a hostage-rescue mission in Gaza in June, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzhak was mortally wounded in May.
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