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Haaretz Falsely Claimed Netanyahu Was Open to Deporting Gaza Residents; He’s Not
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS
CAMERA’s Israel office prompted the correction of a report in Haaretz‘s English edition, which falsely claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the deportation of Gaza residents is under consideration.
The bogus Jan. 3 news item, which supplied false fodder to unfounded accusations of Israeli crimes (“Netanyahu: Considering scenario of surrender and deportation of Gaza residents“), fallaciously reported:
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a “scenario of surrender and deportation” of the Gaza Strip residents is being considered, according to reports on the Israel news channel 12.
In recordings from Netanyahu’s meeting with the families of the Israeli hostages that took place on Tuesday, the prime minister was heard saying, “We are not rejecting that possibility. There are claims to be made for and against it.”
But as Barak Ravid of Axios, and a former Haaretz journalist, rightly pointed out, Netanyahu did not say the deportation of Gaza residents is under consideration. Ravid correctly tweeted:
Indeed, Kan’s (Hebrew) report confirmed Ravid’s information that Netanyahu was commenting on the possibility of deporting Hamas’ leadership — not the territory’s civilian population.
Kan reported (“Netanyahu on the deportation of senior Hamas figures: There are discussions about this possibility,” CAMERA’s translation):
In a meeting today (Tuesday) between the prime minister and families of the hostages, Netanyahu responded to a question from one of the family members about the matter of deporting the Hamas leadership: “There are discussions about this possibility.”
Israeli (Hebrew) sites Mako and Ynet also reported that Netanyahu’s comment about the possibility of deportation was in reference to Hamas leadership, and not Gaza residents, as Haaretz had falsely wrote.
As Haaretz has repeatedly reported in recent days, the South African charge of Israeli genocide at the International Court of Justice must prove intentionality, which is established by the statement of Israeli leaders.
Chen Maanit wrote in Haaretz Jan. 4:
Proof of actions that constitute genocide in the ICJ requires two main elements – first, showing an intention to cause mass physical destruction, and second, showing that there is a causal connection between the actions on the ground and the intention.According to South Africa, the intention is learned from statements by senior Israeli officials. . . [Emphasis added.]
Thus, Haaretz‘s false reporting that the prime minister said the deportation of Gaza residents is under consideration provided tailwind for South Africa’s baseless accusation. Sadly, members of the gIsraeli overnment who fortunately have no say on Gaza policy have made statements in favor of deportation. But the claim that the prime minister made such comments is invention.
In response to communication from CAMERA’s Israel office, Haaretz editors deleted the false claim that Netanyahu was speaking about the deportation of Hamas residents. The amended headline no longer refers to “residents” but still fails to specify deportation of Hamas leadership: “Netanyahu: Considering scenario of surrender and deportation in Gaza.”
The revised accompanying text now states:
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a “scenario of surrender and deportation” in the Gaza Strip is being considered, according to reports on the Israeli news channel 12. The prime minister was most likely referring to Hamas leaders.
The “most likely” qualification is unjustified, given that the recording of the meeting with the hostages’ families revealed for a fact that the prime minister’s statement about the possibility of deportation was in response to a question referring specifically to Hamas leadership.
Separately, intentionally or not, Haaretz gives an additional boost to false charges of Israeli war crimes with Gideon Levy’s uncorrected report egregiously alleging Israel’s “killing of 162 infants in one day — a figure reported by social media this week.” Despite the fact that CAMERA informed Haaretz that Levy himself has admitted that he has zero source for this incendiary claim, editors have yet to retract his fabrication.
Tamar Sternthal is the director of CAMERA’s Israel Office. A version of this article previously appeared on the CAMERA website.
The post Haaretz Falsely Claimed Netanyahu Was Open to Deporting Gaza Residents; He’s Not first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria
Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.
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Armed Groups Attack Security Force Personnel in Syria’s Sweida, Killing One, State TV Reports
People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.
The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.
Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.
The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.
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Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.