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John Oliver on Danger That Hamas Will Repeat Oct. 7 Massacre: Oh Well!
John Oliver in the Nov. 12 episode of his HBO show “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” Photo: Screenshot
On November 13, John Oliver demonstrated why the comedy-as-news business has jumped the shark.
On his HBO program, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the host ranted for about half an hour about the current war in Israel and Gaza. But his understanding of events, as well as his analysis of the war itself, is as tenuous as that of a grade schooler.
Oliver did not even mention the many times that the Palestinians have been offered independence and rejected it, instead trying to blame now-Prime Minister Netanyahu for the failure of the Oslo peace process. Nor did Oliver mention the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, where Israeli troops — and also Israeli civilians who were living in Gaza — were removed, in some cases forcibly, by their own government, and the Palestinians of Gaza were left with a greenhouse agricultural business, a beautiful coastline for tourism, and the opportunity to chart their own course for the future.
In the context of the Last Week segment, this was an omission that is either shockingly dishonest or shows a shocking ignorance.
The culmination of Oliver’s diatribe, towards the end at about 28 minutes into the segment, was a call for a ceasefire, including the following:
There are those like Mideast peace expert Harvey Levin who will say, and not wrongly, that there are real dangers to a ceasefire, that Hamas might regroup once the bombing stops. Although that’s arguably gonna be a danger whenever it stops. So why not stop right now?
Oliver, of course, was mocking Harvey Levin, the founder and executive producer of celebrity-gossip site TMZ. But perhaps Oliver should do some introspection. Levin is certainly no less qualified on this topic than Oliver himself, as his many inaccurate remarks detailed below attest.
More to the point, these superficially peace-loving words hide a deep, deep callousness toward Jewish life. Because both in this passage and earlier, when mentioning Ghazi Hamad, Oliver acknowledges that, if given the chance, Hamas will attack again, and then basically says, “oh well!”
Israelis must simply live with the danger of adults and children being killed, raped, tortured, dismembered, or taken hostage en masse. Too bad for the Jews, he implies, but there’s simply nothing to be done.
Notwithstanding a few individuals with fringe views that Oliver elevates, Israeli officials from across the political spectrum have made clear that the goal of the war is to destroy Hamas so that a repeat of the October 7 massacre will not, in fact, be a danger in the future.
But Oliver prefers that Israel stop now and leave Hamas — who, as even Oliver admits, represses the people of Gaza as well — in place.
Oliver’s correct assertion that there is a distinction between Hamas and the people of Gaza, as well as his long but facile explanation of the lack of control Gaza civilians have over their government, both miss the point, which is simply this: In the wake of the October 7 massacre, Israelis can no longer be expected to live with Hamas on their border.
Unless the people of Gaza turn over Hamas members to the IDF and stop allowing themselves to be used as human shields, Israel has a right to remove Hamas by any means necessary.
That this is an unspeakable tragedy for the people of Gaza is undoubtedly true. Those who are truly concerned should be calling on Hamas to end the bloodshed by immediately surrendering. Instead, Oliver effectively is calling on Israel — the party that was attacked — to do so.
Oliver’s many other inaccuracies, distortions and material omissions about the conflict include:
Using Hamas casualty figures without caveat.
Asserting that settlements “are widely understood to be against international law,” when in fact there is no consensus on the matter, and in any event, law is not decided by what is “widely understood.”
He claimed that, “in response [to the October 7 attack], Israel has launched what’s now become a month-long siege of Gaza, cutting off nearly all water, food, electricity, and fuel to the territory.” But just two weeks before his segment, The New York Times admitted that Hamas had food, water and fuel stockpiled.
He said, “I’m not going to get into the thousands of years of generational trauma informing the response to this, including the Holocaust, and the Nakba, or mass violent displacement of Palestinians, during and after Israel’s founding.” Of course there was no mass violent displacement of Palestinians at Israel’s founding. While some Palestinians may have been expelled, most fled from a war that Arab nations started along with their Palestinian Arab allies. His comments also puts the Holocaust on equal footing with an event of the Palestinian Arabs’ own making.
While Oliver mentioned some of Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad’s comments, he omitted the worst part. He said, “This senior Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, recently doubled down on the massacre of October 7 by saying, ‘We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do it twice, and three times.’” But Hamad was even more specific, also saying, “the Al-Aqsa Flood [i.e., the October 7 attack] is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight. Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it. We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs.”
Oliver further claimed that, “even if all Palestinians in Gaza did support Hamas, which they do not, the relentless bombings of civilians there would still be abhorrent. Collective punishment is a war crime.” But collective punishment is not what is happening. The term “collective punishment” is specifically defined. A bombing campaign targeted towards fighters that, however tragically, civilians are caught up in, does not constitute “collective punishment.” If it did, all war would be a “war crime” and the term would become meaningless.
Oliver says that “this country has emphatically picked a side. In recent years, we’ve given Israel $3.8 billion a year in military aid.” But the US has also given hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinians, some of it allegedly in violation of the Taylor Force Act.
Oliver repeated the canard that Gaza is an “open-air prison.” This claim totally ignores the fact that, as mentioned above, Israel completely evacuated Gaza in 2005, and there was no blockade at that time. Moreover, social media posts since the start of the Israeli military campaign decrying the destruction of previously-beautiful Gaza have inadvertently given the lie to this claim.
Oliver has much to say about the conditions of extreme poverty in which many of the people of Gaza live, but nothing to say about the billionaires who manage Hamas from luxury hotels while living in Qatar. He also has ample time to show his audience the tragic suffering of the Gazan children who have been displaced by the war, but not one minute for Israeli children whose parents or other relatives have been killed or taken hostage, or who have themselves been displaced from the kibbutzim in the south.
Oliver doesn’t seem to understand cause and effect, saying, “Hamas branded itself as the party of resistance to Israel and undermined the peace process with a long series of attacks and suicide bombings, and as prospects for peace collapsed, Hamas seems to be vindicated in its messaging and you can see the philosophy continuing through to today.” But it is the long series of attacks and suicide bombings that have caused the prospects for peace to collapse. Calling this self-fulfilling prophecy a “vindication” of Hamas borders on the absurd.
Oliver has demonstrated the perils of his former boss Jon Stewart’s slogan: “where more people get their news than probably should.” Watching his ignorant rant leaves viewers less informed about the conflict than they were before.
Karen Bekker is the Assistant Director of CAMERA’s Media Response Team. Prior to joining CAMERA, she practiced law for nine years as a commercial litigator. A version of this article previously appeared on the CAMERA website.
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Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities
Palestinians carry aid supplies received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Switzerland has moved to shut down the Geneva office of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid group, citing legal irregularities in its establishment.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid delivery model aimed at preventing the diversion of supplies by Hamas, as Israel continues its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group.
The initiative has drawn criticism from the UN and international organizations, some of which have claimed that Jerusalem is causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.
Israel has vehemently denied such accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid in the enclave throughout the war.
Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.
With a subsidiary registered in Geneva, the GHF — headquartered in Delaware — reports having delivered over 56 million meals to Palestinians in just one month.
According to a regulatory announcement published Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) may order the dissolution of the GHF if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Swiss decision to shut down its Geneva office.
“The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland … and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered branch,” the ESA said in a statement.
Last week, Geneva authorities gave the GHF a 30-day deadline to address legal shortcomings or risk facing enforcement measures.
Under local laws and regulations, the foundation failed to meet several requirements: it did not appoint a board member authorized to sign documents domiciled in Switzerland, did not have the minimum three board members, lacked a Swiss bank account and valid address, and operated without an auditing body.
The GHF operates independently from UN-backed mechanisms, which Hamas has sought to reinstate, arguing that these vehicles are more neutral.
Israeli and American officials have rejected those calls, saying Hamas previously exploited UN-run systems to siphon aid for its war effort.
The UN has denied those allegations while expressing concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach food distribution points.
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Key US Lawmaker Warns Ireland of Potential Economic Consequences for ‘Antisemitic Path’ Against Israel
US Sen. James Risch (R-ID) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Washington, DC, May 21, 2024. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch (R-ID) issued a sharp warning Tuesday, accusing Ireland of embracing antisemitism and threatening potential economic consequences if the Irish government proceeds with new legislation targeting Israeli trade.
“Ireland, while often a valuable U.S. partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,” Risch wrote in a post on X. “If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties. We will always stand up to blatant antisemitism.”
Marking a striking escalation in rhetoric from a senior US lawmaker, Risch’s comments came amid growing tensions between Ireland and Israel, which have intensified dramatically since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Those attacks, in which roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken hostage, prompted a months-long Israeli military campaign in Gaza that has drawn widespread international scrutiny. Ireland has positioned itself as one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s response, accusing the Israeli government of disproportionate use of force and calling for immediate humanitarian relief and accountability for the elevated number of Palestinian civilian casualties.
Dublin’s stance has included tangible policy shifts. In May 2024, Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state, becoming one of the first European Union members to do so following the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The move was condemned by Israeli officials, who recalled their ambassador to Ireland and accused the Irish government of legitimizing terrorism. Since then, Irish lawmakers have proposed further measures, including legislation aimed at restricting imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, policies viewed in Israel and among many American lawmakers as aligning with the controversial Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
While Irish leaders have defended their approach as grounded in international law and human rights, critics in Washington, including Risch, have portrayed it as part of a broader pattern of hostility toward Israel. Some US lawmakers have begun raising the possibility of reevaluating trade and diplomatic ties with Ireland in response.
Risch’s warning is one of the clearest indications yet that Ireland’s policies toward Israel could carry economic consequences. The United States is one of Ireland’s largest trading partners, and American companies such as Apple, Google, Meta and Pfizer maintain substantial operations in the country, drawn by Ireland’s favorable tax regime and access to the EU market.
Though the Trump administration has not echoed Risch’s warning, the remarks reflect growing unease in Washington about the trajectory of Ireland’s foreign policy. The State Department has maintained a careful balancing act, expressing strong support for Israel’s security while calling for increased humanitarian access in Gaza. Officials have stopped short of condemning Ireland’s actions directly but have expressed concern about efforts they see as isolating Israel on the international stage.
Ireland’s stance is emblematic of a growing international divide over the war. While the US continues to provide military and diplomatic backing to Israel, many European countries have called for an immediate ceasefire and investigations into alleged war crimes.
Irish public opinion has long leaned pro-Palestinian, and Irish lawmakers have repeatedly voiced concern over the scale of destruction in Gaza and the dire humanitarian situation.
Irish officials have not yet responded to The Algemeiner’s request for comment.
The post Key US Lawmaker Warns Ireland of Potential Economic Consequences for ‘Antisemitic Path’ Against Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Condemns Iran’s Suspension of IAEA Cooperation, Urges Europe to Reinstate UN Sanctions
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, June 5, 2025. REUTERS/Christian Mang/File Photo
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Wednesday condemned Iran’s decision to halt cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog and called on the international community to reinstate sanctions to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Iran has just issued a scandalous announcement about suspending its cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency),” Saar wrote in a post on X. “This is a complete renunciation of all its international nuclear obligations and commitments.”
Last week, the Iranian parliament voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA “until the safety and security of [the country’s] nuclear activities can be guaranteed.”
“The IAEA and its Director-General are fully responsible for this sordid state of affairs,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X.
The top Iranian diplomat said this latest decision was “a direct result of [IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi’s] regrettable role in obfuscating the fact that the Agency — a full decade ago — already closed all past issues.
“Through this malign action,” Araghchi continued, “he directly facilitated the adoption of a politically-motivated resolution against Iran by the IAEA [Board of Governors] as well as the unlawful Israeli and US bombings of Iranian nuclear sites.”
The Parliament of Iran has voted for a halt to collaboration with the IAEA until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed.
This is a direct result of @rafaelmgrossi‘s regrettable role in obfuscating the fact that the Agency—a full decade ago—already…
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 27, 2025
On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian approved a bill banning UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country until the Supreme National Security Council decides that there is no longer a threat to the safety of its nuclear sites.
In response, Saar urged European countries that were part of the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal to activate its “snapback” clause and reinstate all UN sanctions lifted under the agreement.
Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), this accord between Iran and several world powers imposed temporary restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
During his first term, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and reinstated unilateral sanctions on Iran.
“The time to activate the Snapback mechanism is now! I call upon the E3 countries — Germany, France and the UK to reinstate all sanctions against Iran!” Saar wrote in a post on X.
“The international community must act decisively now and utilize all means at its disposal to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions,” he continued.
The time to activate the Snapback mechanism is now!
I call upon the E3 countries- Germany, France and the UK to reinstate all sanctions against Iran!
Iran has just issued a scandalous announcement about suspending its cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy…— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 2, 2025
Saar’s latest remarks come after Araghchi met last week in Geneva with his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas — their first meeting since the Iran-Israel war began.
Europe is actively urging Iran to reengage in talks with the White House to prevent further escalation of tensions, but has yet to address the issue of reinstating sanctions.
Speaking during an official visit to Latvia on Tuesday, Saar said that “Operation Rising Lion” — Israel’s sweeping military campaign aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities — has “revealed the full extent of the Iranian regime’s threat to Israel, Europe, and the global order.”
“Iran deliberately targeted civilian population centers with its ballistic missiles,” Saar said at a press conference. “The same missile threat can reach Europe, including Latvia and the Baltic states.”
“Israel’s actions against the head of the snake in Iran contributed directly to the safety of Europe,” the Israeli top diplomat continued, adding that Israeli strikes have set back the Iranian nuclear program by many years.
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