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Major Canadian News Outlet Apologizes After Airing Gaza War Footage During Hanukkah Story
Israel’s military operates in the Gaza Strip during a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in this handout picture released on Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
CTV News Toronto has issued an on-air apology after the Canadian broadcaster showed footage of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza while airing a report on how the local community in Toronto was preparing to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.
“We mistakenly aired images of the war in the Middle East while reporting on the beginning of Hanukkah,” CTV News anchor Zuraidah Alman said in the apology on Thursday. “We are deeply sorry that this occurred during our coverage of this important and special event.”
The news outlet blamed a “technical issue” for the war footage being aired.
Today, a @CTVToronto story was broadcast about Chanukah but included images and footage of the war in #Israel instead of what should have obviously been the proper holiday content. @CTVToronto apologized on air during the 5 and 6 p.m. broadcasts and the segment has been fixed.… pic.twitter.com/ZDwWdZPK0T
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) December 8, 2023
Earlier in the day, CTV News aired a noon-hour news story on how Toronto was going to observe the start of Hanukkah that night, highlighting the lighting of a large menorah at Mel Lastman Square.
However, as a reporter was discussing the local Jewish community’s plans for the holiday, the news segment showed footage of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas terror group for about 20-25 seconds.
CTV in Toronto did a story about how Hanukkah is celebrated in the city.
Somebody working there couldn’t take a Jewish holiday being celebrated so he sabotaged the report
pic.twitter.com/o0wegwPT2q
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 7, 2023
Jewish and pro-Israel groups decried what appeared to be an attempt to link Israel’s defensive war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza to Jewish holiday celebrations halfway around the world.
“What is this, @CTVToronto? Is there no time delay for live broadcasts?” B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish human rights organization, wrote on X/Twitter. “Which employee made the editorial decision to link the war against Hamas in Gaza to the Jewish holiday of Chanukah? Please explain why anyone should believe this was not a premeditated act of #antisemitism.”
HonestReporting Canada, an organization that promotes fairness and accuracy in Canadian media coverage of Israel and the Middle East, lodged a complaint with CTV News after the segment aired.
“In what should have been a happy segment, one which focuses on the story of Hanukkah, light triumphing over darkness, viewers instead were treated to a segment, which insinuated that Jews are collectively intertwined and responsible for the war in Gaza,” HonestReporting Canada wrote of the incident on its website.
According to the world’s leading definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel is antisemitic.
Despite CTV News’ apology, many observers suspected the airing of the war footage was deliberate.
“I feel there was a deliberate sabotage act on Hanukkah,” Olga Goldberg, who was attending Thursday’s opening night of the menorah lighting, told the Toronto Sun. She added that it felt like the video was “intentionally placed” to demonize Jewish people.
Thursday’s segment came three days after CTV News anchor Omar Sachedina introduced a story by suggesting a peaceful rally of Jewish and pro-Israel activists was “in support of the war” in Gaza.
“In Ottawa, thousands of Jewish Canadians rallied on Parliament Hill in support of the war while inside Parliament, Palestinian Canadians made a plea for help,” Sachedina said, setting up the news story for a reporter in the field.
A CTV anchor falsely claimed the peaceful Rally for the Jewish People was a rally in support of the war.
This is a prime example of why a growing number of people hate mainstream media. Do better, @CTVNews
— Beth Baisch (@BethBaisch) December 5, 2023
At the rally, demonstrators said they were showing solidarity with the people of Israel and the hostages and victims from Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israeli communities. Hamas terrorists’ surprise invasion of Israel and murderous rampage — in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 abducted — launched the current war in Gaza.
“We are deeply disturbed by @CTVNews misrepresenting yesterday’s peaceful ‘Rally for the Jewish People’ in Ottawa that was attended by thousands of Jews, including students and Holocaust survivors, as being pro-war,” the group Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies posted on X/Twitter. “The poignant pleas from the families of those held hostage by Hamas, as well as those whose loved ones were murdered, were anything but. We call for a retraction and an apology.”
CTV News has yet to comment on the incident.
The post Major Canadian News Outlet Apologizes After Airing Gaza War Footage During Hanukkah Story first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.
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Trump Urges NATO Countries to Halt Russian Oil Purchases
US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect
i24 News – US President Donald Trump issued a letter to NATO nations on Saturday, impressing upon them to stop purchasing Russian oil and impose major sanctions on the regime of Vladimir Putin to end its war in Ukraine.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA. As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” the message read.
“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR. China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”
Trump’s post comes after the recent flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, widely perceived an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of a NATO ally. Poland intercepted the drones, yet Trump played down the severity of the incident and Russia’s motives by saying it “could have been a mistake.”
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Netanyahu Says Getting Rid of Hamas Chiefs in Qatar Would Remove Main Obstacle to Gaza Deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the US Independence Day reception, known as the annual “Fourth of July” celebration, hosted by Newsmax, in Jerusalem, Aug. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that getting rid of Hamas chiefs living in Qatar would remove the main obstacle to releasing all hostages and ending the war in Gaza.
Israel on Tuesday targeted the Hamas leadership in Doha.