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Media Echoes Hamas Propaganda by Equating Torture of Israeli Hostages with Palestinian Prisoners
Eli Sharabi reunites with his family after his release from Gazan captivity. Photo: IDF spokesperson’s unit
Adam Schrader’s latest piece in UPI, “Freed Israeli hostage says Hamas mirrored Israel in treatment of captives,” is nothing short of regurgitated Hamas propaganda.
While it is not the first time that Schrader has spewed the talking points of the Gaza-based terrorist organization, his latest article takes bias to a new level, equating Israeli hostages with Palestinian prisoners convicted of horrific crimes and sourcing so-called human rights organizations that are tied to Hamas.
Trust @UPI‘s Adam Schrader to abuse the torture of released Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi by twisting the story to falsely claim Palestinian prisoners are being treated in the same way.
Enough of this false equivalence between Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
pic.twitter.com/9legWHTAl8
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) March 3, 2025
Schrader effectively twists the words of recently released hostage Eli Sharabi, whose first interview to Israeli media describes the cruel physical and psychological torture his Hamas captors subjected him and his fellow hostages to. Sharabi, who was taken from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri, was held in Gaza for almost 500 days. He survived on a single plate of pasta or one pita a day.
The same lack of food cannot be said of the Hamas terrorists, who have shown up to hostage releases full-bellied, not to mention the fact that there should be no equivalence between the deliberate starving of Israeli hostages and the conditions of ordinary Gazans.
There was no famine in the Gaza Strip. But that doesn’t stop Shrader from referring to “famine-like conditions” faced by “Israeli hostages & Palestinians alike.”
Fully fed Hamas terrorists deliberately starved Israeli hostages. There is no “alike” here. pic.twitter.com/8d26XdL5B0
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) March 3, 2025
Throughout the war, Israel has coordinated the entry of thousands of tons of aid — mainly food — into the Gaza Strip. Yet Schrader deliberately omits these facts to subtly imply that ordinary Palestinians are suffering equally with Israeli hostages kept in tunnels underground.
Despite no signs of famine, if anyone is responsible for what Schrader describes as “famine-like conditions,” it is Hamas which has continuously diverted and stolen aid.
While Israel’s often blamed for restricting aid to Gaza, Gazans are speaking up about the real culprit: Hamas.
Instead of distributing aid, Hamas seizes it—selling what should be free and taking food right out of families’ hands. (via @N12News) pic.twitter.com/CBNfdjM4RC
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 12, 2024
These misleading claims echo Hamas talking points no more than Schrader’s primary source: the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. What Schrader describes as an organization that seeks to “combat falsehoods spread by Israel,” is, in reality, an organization acting on behalf of Hamas.
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 22, 2024
To consistently present a Hamas-front organization as credible further undermines the integrity of Schrader’s reporting, because a narrative of disinformation and anti-Israel bias takes precedent over fact.
It is telling that Schrader spends more time focusing on the treatment of Palestinian prisoners accused of terror offenses than he does on Eli Sharabi, who was held by a terrorist organization for the “crime” of being an Israeli.
There is absolutely no moral equivalence between the two, regardless of Schrader’s attempt to suggest otherwise.
Over 80 percent of the terrorists being released in hostage deals with Israel are convicted of violent offenses including murder, shooting, and assault. The vast majority of the Palestinian prisoners being released are affiliated with terrorist organizations. Portraying them as victims held unlawfully considerably reduces their culpability.
Rather than honorably telling the story of the hostages held in Gaza, Schrader chooses to present a contorted version of reality, equating their experiences with those of convicted murderers.
From manipulating Eli Sharabi’s experience as a hostage to whitewashing terrorists in prison for terror-related offenses, Adam Schrader has turned his work at UPI into a platform for spreading Hamas talking points. This isn’t journalism; it’s propaganda designed to distort the truth and mislead readers.
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.
The post Media Echoes Hamas Propaganda by Equating Torture of Israeli Hostages with Palestinian Prisoners first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”