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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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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.