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Media Hides Truth After International Group Says No ‘Famine’ in Gaza
An UNRWA aid truck at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
It’s embarrassing to admit a mistake. But it’s worse to try and hide it.
Sadly, media outlets opted for the latter in their coverage of a revised report that contradicted their narrative on a Gaza “famine.”
The June 25 report, by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), included two main points:
Contrary to the IPC’s widely-covered estimates from March 18, the report stated that “the available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring” in northern Gaza.
A “high risk” of famine persists across the whole of the Gaza Strip, as long as conflict continues.
Any journalist reading the report should have immediately noticed that its authors have buried the first point — which is new and proves that they were wrong — while leading with the second point, which is repetitive and speculative.
But instead of critically calling out their source and reporting what’s new in the report, media outlets were happy to copy-paste it, effectively burying, distorting, or altogether omitting the news that would have embarrassed them and the IPC alike for spreading false information.
Omission and Distortion
In March, media headlines were quick to parrot the IPC’s “famine” forecast, and in early June, they ignored the monitor’s admission of several flaws in its original data-gathering.
Ideally, these journalistic sins should have been corrected by now, with headlines about the revised report that look like this:
Global monitor announces no evidence of Gaza famine
Global monitor lowers estimate of Gazans facing “catastrophic” hunger from 1.1 million to 495,000
IPC admits March report on Gaza famine was faulty
Aid deliveries alleviated hunger conditions in Gaza – report
Instead, media outlets buried this information, as well as omitted or distorted it, to hide the truth from their audience.
CNN buried the no-famine point in the 10th paragraph of its text story. On Instagram, it’s been completely omitted with a reframed headline:
The report stated its previous assumptions were wrong on the amount of food entering Gaza and said, “In this context, the available evidence does not indicate that Famine is currently occurring.”
But that would’ve ruined @CNN‘s narrative… pic.twitter.com/8sNznK2Rkx
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 26, 2024
The Guardian went further, not only burying the news (in the 3rd paragraph), but distorting it with an agenda-driven headline:
The British paper also had no qualms about publishing an op-ed that falsely claims Israel is deliberately starving Gazans the same way the Nazis starved Jews in the Holocaust.
“The idea that we can somehow put what is happening in Gaza at a distant remove from the history of the Warsaw ghetto is grotesque.”
No, @guardian, what’s grotesque is publishing an op-ed that falsely claims Israel is deliberately starving Gazans the same way the Nazis starved… pic.twitter.com/MCEqTKnYp4
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 26, 2024
Distortion also plagued The New York Times’ report, which framed the entire story with comments from aid groups, and avoided mentioning the no-famine point by stating (in the 3rd paragraph) that the IPC has “stopped short of saying that a famine had begun.”
The BBC, the Telegraph, and The Independent almost copy-pasted the IPC report verbatim, with headlines about the risk of famine:
These three outlets also uncritically parroted the report’s assessment that almost half a million Gazans now face “catastrophic” hunger — without mentioning that it’s down from the original estimate of 1.1 million, and that no actual famine was found.
Media Cop Out
Admittedly, news outlets must cover what bodies like the IPC report. And it’s true that the report sneakily started with the words: “A high risk of famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip.”
But journalists should read between the lines, understand the background, and not just take the IPC’s word as gospel, especially if its previous reports have been proven wrong.
Unfortunately, media outlets avoided this inconvenience and chose to perpetuate the false famine narrative.
After all, it’s an easy cop-out that hides their own faults of parroting unreliable sources.
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 Hides Truth After International Group Says No ‘Famine’ in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.