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New Report Proves Gaza Casualty Numbers Are a Lie — the Media Still Reports Them

People demonstrate in the city of Santander, Spain, under the motto ‘Let’s stop the genocide in Gaza,’ on Jan. 20, 2024. Photo: Joaquin Gomez Sastre/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
A new report by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) reveals what has been obvious all along: The death toll provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza does not add up.
Despite the Palestinian casualty figures being disputed by Israel, this hasn’t stopped most mainstream media outlets from treating them with barely deserved credibility.
The HJS report analyzed a collection of 1,378 articles published by leading English-language newspapers and media outlets, specifically The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, and the Australian ABC.
The findings are staggering:
- 84% of the publications analyzed failed to make the critical distinction in total numbers between combatant deaths and civilian deaths.
- In 19% of the publications analyzed, the numbers of fatalities provided by Hamas-run institutions were used without citing any source, thereby suggesting those figures were undisputed.
- A mere 5% of outlets cited the casualty statistics provided by Israel; 98% cited figures by the Hamas-run MoH. The Israeli figures were questioned in half of the articles that cited them, whereas the Hamas figures were often taken at face value.
- Men were recorded in fatality lists as female when the same individual was reported as a male in the Palestinian Population Registry. Similarly, the ages of several fatalities have been found to be inaccurate — men in their twenties or thirties are reported as children and babies, skewing the reported number of women and children killed.
- There is a disproportionate number of young men of fighting age listed among the casualties. There is no differentiation between civilians and Hamas combatants.
- The figures reported by the Hamas-run MoH include those who died of natural causes.
These results underscore a clear pattern of Hamas systematically influencing the media’s perception of the war.
Chapter 6 is the work of the amazing Tania Glezer from https://t.co/hAEdhFrjhb and the International Institute for Social and Legal Studies.
They show the shocking imbalance in global media reporting on this conflict.
The West’s media has taken the conscious decision to… pic.twitter.com/2IHHrlpdJp
— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) December 15, 2024
This is not the first time the death toll in Gaza has been inflated by Hamas. Hamas has striven to influence the media’s perception of its wars with Israel since at least 2009, aligning with the terror organization’s broader objective of influencing international opinion to garner sympathy and condemnation of Israeli actions.
In past wars between Israel and Hamas, Hamas has issued guidelines that call on Palestinians to consider all casualties to be “innocent civilians.”
However, these “innocent civilians” are frequently found to have connections with Hamas or other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐯𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲:#Palestinian media claim that Israel mercilessly killed 36 Palestinians. But these channels have whitewashed terrorists, removed context, & attempted to portray them as innocent civilians. pic.twitter.com/c7lU3QBX6o
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 6, 2023
How many news outlets will acknowledge the HJS report, or even cover it in their own stories?
Sadly we know the answer, because doing so would require them to admit to using inaccurate death tolls provided by Hamas. When Hamas has quietly revised the number of casualties, the media have turned the other way. What better way to villainize Israel while avoiding accountability for propagating false information provided by a terrorist organization?
This has had serious implications in media reporting of casualty numbers in recent months ,as outlets have claimed 70% of casualties in the war are women and children.
Not only were these reports using statistics with misleading sample sizes, but the added findings provided by the HJS report indicate that the misclassification of men as women, as well as other inaccuracies in casualty data from Hamas-run institutions, have further distorted these figures.
Chapter 2 deals with the age breakdown of demographics in much more detail and highlights numerous obvious errors.
This chapter allows you to comprehensively rebut the idea that Israel is targeting women and children.
3/9 pic.twitter.com/ySlUNZ0d9N
— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) December 15, 2024
Andrew Fox, the author of the report asserted “This misclassification contributes to the narrative that civilian populations, particularly women and children, bear the brunt of the conflict, potentially influencing sentiment and media coverage.”
It is undeniable that the casualty figures provided by Hamas are inaccurate and should not be relied on by any media outlet. Nonetheless, when asked for a response to the report by The Telegraph, the BBC claimed, “It is challenging to report accurately on the death toll in Gaza as Israel does not allow independent access to international journalists.”
Yet, the BBC does have correspondents in Gaza. Is the BBC acknowledging that it cannot trust its correspondents in Gaza to report on the war accurately or impartially? Perhaps BBC media workers in Gaza could investigate the casualty figures but that would necessitate the BBC having to publicly state that there is no press freedom in Gaza due to Hamas influence and control.
Claiming that Israel does not allow independent access to international journalists is no excuse for parroting Hamas casualty figures.
Is @BBCNews admitting that its correspondents in Gaza are not impartial or capable of investigating for themselves? pic.twitter.com/Qocbj01tA5
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 14, 2024
Hamas has enticed the media to push out a lie so extravagantly crafted that admitting the truth now after more than a year of war would cause embarrassment to the outlets that took a terrorist organization’s claims at face value.
If Hamas’ own casualty figures don’t add up, neither do the media narratives that echo them.
Born in Toronto, Sharon Levy moved to Israel in October 2023 and has held various roles in Israel advocacy and research institutions. Sharon has a Masters degree in Government with a specialization in Counterterrorism and Cyber Security from Reichman University. 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 New Report Proves Gaza Casualty Numbers Are a Lie — the Media Still Reports Them first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Activist Judge’: White House Vows to Fight Harvard After Legal Setback Over Funding

US President Donald Trump replies to a question in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Sept. 2, 2025. Photo: Brian Snyder via Reuters Connect
A US federal judge ruled on Wednesday that President Donald Trump acted unconstitutionally when he confiscated about $2.2 billion in Harvard University’s federal research grants as punishment for the institution’s alleged failing to address antisemitic harassment and discrimination on campus.
In her ruling, US District Judge Allison Burroughs, who was appointed to her position in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama, said that the Trump administration “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”
Burroughs went on to argue that the federal government violated Harvard’s free speech rights under the US Constitution’s First Amendment and that it was the job of courts to “ensure that important research is not improperly subjected to arbitrary and procedurally infirm grant terminations.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Harvard became a hub of campus antisemitism in the wake of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza. The wave of incidents included a public assault on recent Harvard Business School graduate Yoav Segev in which assailants allegedly identified him as a Jew and proceeded to encircle him while screaming “Shame!” in his face; an anti-Zionist faculty group’s sharing an antisemitic cartoon aimed at inciting anti-Jewish hatred in the Black community; masses of students roaming the halls calling for a genocide of Jews in Israel; and the university’s admitting that it has refused to afford Jews the same protections against discrimination enjoyed by other minority groups.
Burroughs’s ruling has restored Harvard’s access to billions of dollars in funds paid for by the American taxpayer, preventing a fiscal crisis which has caused draconian budget cuts at other institutions facing similar financial penalties imposed by the Trump administration.
The decision also awards Harvard University president Alan Garber a major political victory, as he has in recent weeks endured growing criticism from faculty and Democratic lawmakers for entertaining a settlement with the Trump administration which would have included concessions to the conservative movement on issues ranging from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to viewpoint diversity on campus. Such a deal would risk inciting a mutiny at Harvard, where 94 percent of faculty donated to Democratic candidates in 2024.
On Wednesday, the White House vowed to continue fighting in court — which may include requesting emergency proceedings at the conservative-leaning US Supreme Court — accusing Burroughs of being compromised by partisanship.
“This activist Obama-appointed judge was always going to rule in Harvard’s favor, regardless of the facts,” Liz Huston, spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement following the ruling. “We will immediately move to appeal this egregious decision, and we are confident we will ultimately prevail in our efforts to hold Harvard accountable.”
Harvard said on Thursday that the ruling supported its contention that the Trump administration had acted unlawfully.
“The ruling affirms Harvard’s First Amendment and procedural rights, and validates our arguments in defense of the university’s academic freedom, critical scientific research, and the core principles of American higher education,” Garber said in a statement. “Our principles will guide us on the path forward. We will continue to champion open inquiry and the free exchange of ideas, and to build a community in which all can thrive.”
Harvard’s legal woes did not draw to a close with Wednesday’s decisions, as it sits at the center of yet another federal lawsuit alleging that school officials, including its private law enforcement agency, exposed a Jewish student to antisemitic abuse by refusing to intervene and correct a hostile environment even as the misconduct escalated to include violence
Filed in July, the mammoth complaint, totaling 124 pages, lays out the case that the university miscarried justice in the aftermath of two students, Ibrahim Bharmal and Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, allegedly assaulting Segev during the fall semester of the 2023-2024 academic year — just weeks after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel — by refusing to discipline them and later rewarding them the university’s highest honors.
“This malicious, violent, and antisemitic conduct violated several university policies — such as its anti-discrimination and anti-bullying policies — and it prompted criminal charges,” the complaint said. “No one doubts for a second that Harvard would have taken swift, aggressive, and public actions to enforce its policies had the victim been one of Harvard’s ‘favored’ minorities.”
It continued, “Harvard’s antisemitic intent is obvious. Several of its faculty publicly supported the attacker and tried to blame the victim (because, the faculty said, his Jewish presence was ‘threatening’ to other students). And, of course, hundreds of rabidly anti-Israel students disrupting campus life pressured the Harvard administration. Ultimately, and shamefully, the university kowtowed to the antisemitic mob it had allowed to take over its campus.”
Alleging violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, breach of contract, and conspiracy to deny civil rights, the suit demands all relevant recompense, including damages and the reimbursement of attorneys’ fees.
Nearly two years after the assault, Bharmal and Tettey-Tamaklo have not only avoided hate crime charges but also even amassed new accolades and distinctions — according to multiple reports.
After being charged with assault and battery, the two men were ordered in April by Boston Municipal Court Judge Stephen McClenon to attend “pre-trial diversion” anger management courses and perform 80 hours of community service each, a decision which did not require their apologizing to Segev even though Assistant District Attorney Ursula Knight described what they did as “hands on assault and battery.”
Harvard neither disciplined Bharmal nor removed him from the presidency of the Harvard Law Review, a coveted post once held by former US President Barack Obama. As of last year, he was awarded a law clerkship with the Public Defender for the District of Columbia, a government-funded agency which provides free legal counsel to “individuals … who are charged with committing serious criminal acts.” Bharmal also reaped a $65,000 fellowship from Harvard Law School to work at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an Islamic group whose leaders have defended Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities against Israelis.
As for Tettey-Tamaklo, he walked away from Harvard Divinity School with honors, according to The Free Press, as the 2024 Class Committee for Harvard voted him class marshal, a role in which he led the graduation procession through Harvard Yard alongside the institution’s most accomplished scholars and faculty.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Gazan Boy, Said to Be Killed by IDF, Shown Alive in New Video, Debunking Viral Lie

Abdul Rahim Muhammad Hamdene, the Gazan boy previously reported as killed by Israeli forces, appears alongside his mother in a new video. Photo: Screenshot
A Gazan boy who was previously reported as killed by Israeli forces in May has been found alive, casting doubt on the credibility of the American contractor who spread the story.
Abdul Rahim Muhammad Hamdene, known as Abboud, appeared in recently recorded footage of an interview obtained by both Fox News and The Daily Wire showing the young boy healthy and safe with his mother.
Remember ex-GHF contractor Tony Aguilar’s claim that he saw a little Gazan boy named “Amir” run into “a wall of bullets” and suffer “a shot to the torso, a shot to the leg, dead?”
Well it’s not true. “Amir” is alive and well.
My latest for @realdailywire: pic.twitter.com/OMxdNvHIOk
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 4, 2025
Abboud’s supposed “death” became a flashpoint after Anthony Aguilar, a former contractor for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) who previously served as a US Army Green Beret, claimed he witnessed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shoot the child as the GHF was distributing humanitarian aid on May 28.
Aguilar presented himself as a whistleblower, and his story gained traction internationally, going viral on social media. He subsequently embarked on an extensive media tour, in which he accused Israel of indiscriminately killing Palestinian civilians as part of an attempt to “annihilate” and “disappear” the civilian population in Gaza.
However, Aguilar, who erroneously labeled the boy in question as “Amir,” gave inconsistent accounts of the alleged incident in separate interviews to different media outlets, calling into question the veracity of his narrative. The military veteran initially said, for example, that the alleged killing happened outside of the GHF’s Secure Distribution Site 1 (SDS 1), before later changing his story and claiming the shooting occurred outside of SDS 2.
The GHF is an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices. The organization released a chain of text messages showing that Aguilar was terminated for his conduct. It also held a press conference to present evidence showing that Aguilar “falsified documents” and “presented misleading videos to push his false narrative.”
Nonetheless, his claims were cited widely by critics of Israel such as Tucker Carlson, Ryan Grim, and Glenn Greenwald as supposed proof of war crimes.
The GHF launched its own investigation at the end of July, ultimately locating Abboud alive with his mother at SDS 3 on Aug. 23. The organization confirmed his identity using facial recognition software and biometric testing.
Abboud was escorted in disguise to an undisclosed safe location by the GHF team for his safety, according to The Daily Wire, which noted that the spreading of Aguilar’s false tale put the boy’s life in danger, as his alleged death was a powerful piece of propaganda for Hamas.
Fox News Digital reported that Abboud and his mother were safely extracted from the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
In the footage obtained by both news outlets, the boy can be seen playfully interacting with a GHF representative and appearing excited ahead of their planned extraction.
“While this story ends happily, it could have ended in tragedy,” GHF executive chair Johnnie Moore told Fox News Digital. “Too many people, including in the press and civil society, were quick to spread unverified claims without asking the most basic questions.”
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What Jerrold Nadler’s Retirement Reveals About Future Support for Israel
Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s (D-NY) announcement that he will retire in 2026 marks the end of one of the longest-serving Jewish voices in Congress. But his final message is not a reaffirmation of support for Israel, but instead, a call to push for an arms embargo on the Jewish State.
This isn’t just politics. It’s not simply a career Democrat bowing to pressure from the far-left or trying to placate anti-Israel activists. Nadler’s final move reflects something deeper — a worldview shared by more and more American Jews. For them, Israel’s survival is not tied to their own survival. They see themselves as individuals, detached from Jewish history, detached from the continuum of antisemitism, and detached from the idea that Israel is the guarantor of the Jewish people’s future.
Nadler’s position is reminiscent of what we’ve already seen from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who privately counseled Harvard to ignore criticism by those who felt that the school neglected antisemitism on its own campus. Many argued that Schumer and Nadler were acting out of self-preservation, bowing to progressive dogma to save their careers. But this parting shot from Nadler serves no purpose for his career, given that he’s retiring. Rather, it suggests that this is what he truly believes.
Nadler’s wish to disarm Israel, by disallowing it to have “offensive arms,” reveals a lack of understanding of what’s needed in the Middle East to defend oneself, as well as a lack of caring for the Israelis who will pay for it with their blood.
This line of thinking reflects a group of Jewish people who truly do not associate themselves with the wellbeing and safety of the only Jewish state.
For decades, Israel could count on Diaspora Jews to rally when it mattered. From Washington to London, and Paris to New York, Jewish leaders stood up for Israel on the streets and in the halls of power. That reliability is fading.
Today, Jews are being peeled away, one by one, by a culture that demonizes Israel and normalizes hostility toward the Jewish State. Even young people raised in Orthodox synagogues and schools are drifting.
One synagogue member recently described how her son — educated in Jewish day schools and camps — now feels uncomfortable walking into his parents’ home because they display a yellow ribbon for the hostages. If even this segment is being lost, the crisis is deeper than many care to admit.
The lesson for Israel is that Diaspora support is no longer a given. Yes, there remain millions of Jews and allies who stand firm — but the numbers are dwindling. Popular culture and elite institutions are reshaping Jewish identity in ways that distance it from Israel. Unless something dramatic occurs, one can expect this trend to continue.
That means Israel must prepare to stand alone. Like every other nation, Israel’s security depends first and foremost on its own strength. Alliances are based on alignment of interests — nothing more and nothing less. Ironically, this brings with it a strange kind of clarity of purpose and confidence that Israel will rise or fall based on its merits, not persuasive lobbying in foreign lands.
The Zionist dream of Israel as the center of Jewish life is coming true, just not in the way anyone thought it would come about. It’s not because of support in the rest of the world — but because Israel is increasingly left to chart its course alone.
This isn’t cause for despair, but rather a call for vigilance and realism. Israel is strong, resourceful, and resilient — but it must understand the shifting ground. From now on, Israel must act, plan, and fight understanding that its friends and allies will be determined by what Israel can offer and what value it can produce for other countries.
Israel and its people are abundant with tangible assets that other countries do value and will value. And that is a great sign of hope for the Jewish State.
Daniel Rosen is the Co-founder of a Non-profit Technology company called Emissary4all which is an app to organize people on social media by ideology not geography. He is the Co-host of the podcast “Recalibration.” You can reach him at drosen@emissary4all.org