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NBC Report on West Bank Tensions Conceals Palestinian Violence
Illustrative: Israeli soldiers search a Palestinian’s car at a checkpoint in Hebron in the West Bank, August 22, 2023. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Only by ignoring the last two and a half years of growing Palestinian violence in the West Bank, could any observer refer to that arena as a “new front” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet in his Jan. 12 NBC Nightly News broadcast about increasing West Bank violence, Richard Engel did just that [beginning at approximately 12 minutes into the video below]:
Already at war with Hamas in Gaza and under threat from Iranian-backed militias across the Middle East, Israel may face a new front closer to home. Since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7th, Israeli troops have intensified counter-terrorism raids in the Palestinian West Bank where locals accuse Israel of heavy-handed tactics.
Engel’s subsequent reporting is heavy on Palestinian accusations against Israel, but short on fact-checking and professional coverage of Palestinian violence.
Thus, the NBC correspondent continues:
We recently traveled to the Nur al-Shams refugee camp. Suleiman al-Zuheiri, a community leader, took me to a building where he says, Israeli troops arrested a man accused of making bombs and then blew up three apartment.
[Al-Zuheiri states:] “This is what we call collective punishment for the people down the street.”
Engel neglects to report that during the Dec. 26 arrest in the Tulkarem refugee camp, the Israeli military found dozens of improvised explosive devises and rockets in that same building. The Israeli military reported:
Additionally, during searches of the building, an explosives lab containing dozens of improvised explosives ready for use and explosives materials were found and destroyed.
In addition, more than 30 weapons were discovered in the building, improvised rockets and additional arms which were confiscated. The suspect who was found in the building in which the lab was located was arrested. [Translation by CAMERA]
Did NBC probe the possibility that secondary explosions due to the weapons cache — as opposed to “collective punishment” — were responsible for destroying three apartments? In any event, what’s clear is that Engel concealed the existence of the weapons cache and explosives lab from viewers.
He likewise expunged evidence of Palestinian violence in his account of the Oct. 19 Israeli military raid in Nur al-Shams, selectively reporting that Sarah Mahmeed:
showed me the spot where she filmed her 16-year-old brother as he was shot by Israeli soldiers during another raid. Her cell phone video is difficult to watch. When her brother, on the left, looks around a corner, he’s shot dead. When her father tries to recover the body, he’s shot too. Seriously injured. He manages to limp back home. “Our blood is cheap for them. They’re killing us every day,” Sarah says. The Israeli military said its troops fired on terrorists during an operation in the area. At the time we attended the funeral for Palestinians who’ve just been killed during another Israeli operation.
Engel reports Taha Mahmeed‘s identity as a terrorist as an unverifiable, with the sister and the Israeli military providing conflicting claims. But Hamas itself confirmed the Israel Defense Forces’ information, acknowledging that the younger Mahmeed was one of “its martyrs” killed “during confrontations” with the IDF.
Here is an English translation of the poster [provided by CAMERA Arabic}:
To the masses of our mighty Palestinian people and the free people of our Arab and Islamic nation, Hamas — the Islamic Resistance Movement — mourns its martyred hero Taha Mahameed who ascended [to heaven] at dawn of Thursday, 19.10.23 by the occupation’s fire in the Nur Shams refugee camp east of Tulkarm during the clashes of the Al-Aqsa Flood campaign.
NBC’s report gives no indication that Mahmeed belonged to Hamas, a designated terror organization, which just that month had committed the most barbaric massacre of Jews targeting thousands, inflicting unparalleled torture and horrific rapes, in recent history.
In short, for a broadcast titled “Violence escalating in the West Bank,” NBC’s Richard Engel does a remarkable job concealing Palestinian violence in the West Bank.
Tamar Sternthal is the director of CAMERA’s Israel Office. A version of this article previously appeared on the CAMERA website. This article was written with research by CAMERA Arabic.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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Rubio Holds First Meeting with Hostage Families, Urges End to Gaza War
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
i24 News – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held on Friday his first meeting with the families of the hostages still held in Gaza since taking office in January, telling the loved ones that a “real victory” can only occur in Gaza when the remaining hostages are returned.
Those in attendance included Omri Miran’s brother-in-law; Evyatar David’s brother; Hadar Goldin’s brother; and Iair Horn, who himself is a freed hostage, with his brother Eitan still held by Hamas in Gaza.
According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, they urged the current US administration for a “bold decision.” “We’ve waited long enough,” the family members said. “It’s time to make brave decisions and bring all our loved ones back—all at once.”
Rubio, in turn, expressed the Trump administration’s “unwavering commitment” in rescuing the 49 remaining hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
This meeting comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he believes a ceasefire will be reached between Israel and Hamas “within the next week.”
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Trump Says He Would Consider Bombing Iran Again, Drops Sanctions Relief Plan
US President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump sharply criticized Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamanei, on Friday, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels.
Trump reacted sternly to Khamanei’s first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel that ended when the United States launched bombing raids last weekend against Iranian nuclear sites.
Khamanei said Iran “slapped America in the face” by launching an attack against a major US base in Qatar following the US bombing raids. Khamanei also said Iran would never surrender.
Trump said he had spared Khamanei’s life. US officials told Reuters on June 15 that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader.
“His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life,” Trump said in a social media post.
“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH,” he said.
Iran said a potential nuclear deal was conditional on the US ending its “disrespectful tone” toward the Supreme Leader.
“If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X in the early hours of Saturday.
Trump also said that in recent days he had been working on the possible removal of sanctions on Iran to give it a chance for a speedy recovery. He said he had now abandoned that effort.
“I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more,” he said.
Trump said at a White House news conference that he did not rule out attacking Iran again, when asked about the possibility of new bombing of Iranian nuclear sites if deemed necessary at some point.
“Sure, without question, absolutely,” he said.
Trump said he would like inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency – the U.N. nuclear watchdog – or another respected source to be able to inspect Iran’s nuclear sites after they were bombed last weekend.
Trump has rejected any suggestion that damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said.
The IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday that ensuring the resumption of IAEA inspections was his top priority as none had taken place since Israel began bombing on June 13.
However, Iran’s parliament approved moves on Wednesday to suspend such inspections. Araqchi indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of the agency for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump said Iran still wants to meet about the way forward. The White House had said on Thursday that no meeting between the U.S. and an Iranian delegation has been scheduled thus far.
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