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Hamas Documents Aren’t Substantiation — But the Media Doesn’t Care

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar looks on as Palestinian Hamas supporters take part in an anti-Israel rally over tension in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, in Gaza City, Oct. 1, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Treating Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif as a bona fide journalist — hunted and killed on account of his heroic pursuit of the truth — The Los Angeles Times’ Nabih Bulos dismisses information revealing that the slain purported newsman was the head of a Hamas cell and was responsible for rocket attacks (page one in Aug. 12 print edition, “Journalist slain in Israeli strike was a voice in war-torn Gaza,” and online here).

The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics exhorts media practitioners to “seek truth and report it.” In stubbornly promoting the dubious portrait of al-Sharif as a professional journalist faithfully doing his job under fire, Bulos degrades his own truth-seeker credentials.

“Israel’s military targeted a tent for journalists in Gaza City late Sunday, killing seven people, including Anas al-Sharif, a reporter for Al Jazeera who drew millions of followers on social media and emerged as a top voice in the Arab world for his chronicling of the war in Gaza over the last 22 months,” Bulos’ article begins.

The page-one headline likewise emphasizes that Al-Sharif “was a voice in war-torn Gaza,” and Bulos quotes an Al Jazeera statement in the article’s fourth paragraph: “The order to assassinate Anas al-Sharif, one of Gaza’s bravest journalists, and his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.”

Yet for all of Bulos’ apparent concern for the silencing of the “top voice,” The Los Angeles Times correspondent’s own work is a remarkable case of doing just that: In particular, Bulos spares not one word on al-Sharif’s myriad and unabashed pronouncements praising attacks on Israeli civilians and pro-terror sentiments, which belie The Times’ clumsily crafted portrait of a hunted journalist.

According to the findings of CAMERA Arabic, on 17 occasions from November 2021 until October 2023, Anas al-Sharif celebrated and justified Palestinian attacks which targeted and killed Israeli civilians, calling the perpetrators “heroes” and “martyrs,” and the attacks “heroic operations.” (A list of al-Sharif’s online praise for terror is appended to the bottom of this post.)

On Oct. 7, 2023, as thousands of terrorists still rampaged through southern Israeli communities, butchering, raping, burning, kidnapping and looting, “the top voice for in the Arab world for his chronicling the war in Gaza” could not contain his glee, sharing on social media: “9 hours and the heroes are still roaming the country and capturing … God, God, how great you are.”

Far from seeking the truth, Bulos silences the uncomfortable truth of the courageous “journalist” joyfully applauding terror. Rather than quoting or even mentioning any of al-Sharif’s numerous pro-terror outbursts, The Los Angeles Times perhaps alludes to them in the 14th paragraph, dismissing them as nothing more than a questionable Israeli accusation:

Sunday’s drone attack came weeks after Israel stepped up its attacks on Al-Sharif, with the military’s Arabic language spokesman accusing the Al Jazeera correspondent in July of spreading “propaganda” and taking part in “a false Hamas campaign on starvation.”

And it’s not only Bulos’ coverage of al-Sharif’s incitement that fails to pass another tenet of ethical journalism 101: “Provide context. Take care not to misrepresent or oversimplify in promoting, previewing or summarizing a story.”

Bulos buries the Israeli military’s information that al-Sharif headed a Hamas terror cell and was responsible for rocket attacks, waiting until the seventh paragraph to share:

Israel’s military confirmed it conducted the attack, issuing a statement shortly before midnight Monday saying it struck the terrorist Anas Al-Sharif who it said “posed a journalist” but “served as the head of a terrorist cell” in the militant group Hamas.

It claimed that “previously disclosed intelligence information” and “many documents found in the Gaza Strip” confirmed Al-Sharif’s involvement with Hamas. The documents, which the statement said included personnel rosters and lists of terrorist training courses, among others, “provide proof of the integration of the Hamas terrorist” within Al Jazeera.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col Nadav Shoshani also posted on X (formerly Twitter) screenshots of the relevant Hamas documents, a pertinent fact which Bulos chose to ignore.

Ignoring that the Hamas documents are publicly available for all who choose to examine them, Bulos charges forward, writing: “Al Jazeera, along with a United Nations expert, the Committee to Protect Journalists and other groups cast doubt on the veracity of the documents.”

He continues:

The Israeli military has previously made unsubstantiated claims that journalists in targeted and killed in Gaza were terrorists. In March, Israeli killed Al Jazeera correspondent Hossam Shabat; in July 2024, it killed Ismail Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi.

As with Anas al-Sharif, the IDF released Hamas documents revealing the affiliation of its Beit Hanoun operative Hossam Shabat. Ditto for Ismail Ghoul, an engineer in Hamas’ Gaza City brigade. (According to the IDF and Shin Bet, Ghoul was a Nukhba terrorist who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre, but on this point we did not find publicly released documentation.)

If information backed up by publicly shared Hamas documents is “unsubstantiated,” as Bulos suggests, what could possibly constitute substantiation regarding “journalists” moonlighting as terrorists? Perhaps a broadcast statement from no less than (slain) Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, seen at left embracing Al Jazeera’s Al-Sharif?

Screenshot

Bulos applies a lower standard of substantiation to Israel’s accusers. Thus, he reports:

Health authorities in Gaza say 237 journalists have been killed since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023. The Committee to Protect Journalists says that at least 186 have been killed.

At no point does he qualify that the claims of the “health authorities” in the Gaza Strip and CPJ are “unsubstantiated.” Nor does he disclose that the Gaza Strip “health authorities” are run by Hamas.

Moreover, Bulos conceals the terrorist affiliations of others he mentions. Thus, he selectively reports:

Chief [Al Jazeera] correspondent Wael al Dahdouh lost his wife, son, daughter and grandson in an Israeli airstrike in October. Weeks after that, he was injured in a strike that killed Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa.

Bulos neglects to report that the IDF released Islamic Jihad documents revealing that Hamza Wael Dahdouh, Wael al Dahdouh’s son, was a member of the terror group’s electronic engineering unit. The IDF identified Abu Daqqa as the head of Hamas’ aerial unit in Gaza.

Independent researcher David Collier concluded in his 2024 report that, at the time, 50 percent of Palestinian fatalities in Gaza identified by Committee to Protect Journalists as “journalists” were affiliated with proscribed terror groups.

But that overlap of activity simply is not a notion that Bulos is willing to entertain. Untenable claims by Al Jazeera, CPJ and the United Nations are evidence enough for Bulos of one’s journalistic credentials in the Gaza Strip.

But documents originating from Hamas or Islamic Jihad listing the affiliations of their operatives? In Bulos’ eyes, that’s nothing more than evidence of an Israeli ruse.

Tamar Sternthal is director of the Israel office of CAMERA, where a version of this article first appeared. 

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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.

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