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News Video of ‘Possible Israeli War Crime’ Raises Disturbing Questions
FILE PHOTO: A militant fires a rocket launcher during what Hamas says is an engagement with its fighters during a battle with Israeli forces amid Israel’s ground offensive in a location given as near Beit Hanoun, Gaza, in this still image taken from video released November 17, 2023. Hamas Military Wing/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
When ITV News speculated this week about whether Israel had committed “a possible war crime” during a tragic incident in which a man was shot in Gaza, it had a duty to present the accusation with ironclad evidence.
However, the video it aired — allegedly showing the lethal targeting of a Palestinian civilian walking among a group of people waving a white flag — raises serious questions that the UK news outlet should have asked in advance.
And after the Israeli army denied the report and criticized ITV News for broadcasting what it dismissed as an “extension of Hamas’s propaganda effort,” serious alarm bells should have been ringing over at ITV News about the circumstances surrounding the incident the footage purportedly showed.
According to ITV News, the video was filmed by Mohammed Abu Safia, a Gazan cameraman who works for the network.
The footage was presented without any disclosure telling viewers that it had been edited.
Furthermore, at least one of the video cuts seems to occur at the critical moment when gunshots are heard and people can be seen running away. The editing cut is barely perceptible, and the next frame shows a body on the ground.
The video goes on to show people carrying the body and mourning in what seems to be an active combat zone.
Several key questions arise:
Why was there a cut between the frame showing people running from gunshots and the frame showing a body on the ground?
Can ITV News confirm what happened and how much time elapsed between the two frames?
Did ITV News probe the likelihood of Hamas terrorists in the vicinity who may have been shooting?
Did ITV News rely solely on the eyewitness testimony of the cameraman, and if so, was it him or the network that edited the footage?
The video shows one more person wearing a press vest, who was filming the scene on his phone. Why were journalists in this area to begin with and what were they filming?
Moral vs. Journalistic Authority
These are not agenda-driven questions. They are questions that any journalist should have asked.
But apparently, ITV News was in too much of a rush to promote a “good story” than it was to do journalistic due diligence and investigate before presenting such an inflammatory accusation.
Instead of acknowledging how little information was known about the incident, the network packaged it inside an emotional narrative showing an interview with the victim before he was shot before cutting straight to his anguished wife minutes later.
It also brought two lawyers to support its claims, although we suspect an interview with a video expert might have been money better spent.
ITV News also mentioned the accidental killing of Israeli hostages by IDF soldiers, as though this acts as further proof of the IDF targeting innocent civilians. What a shame the outlet did not balance this with footage of Hamas terrorists wearing civilian clothing and armed with suicide belts as they attempt to blend in with innocent civilians.
Evidence and questions aside, ITV News’ John Irvine felt more than comfortable reaching his conclusion after viewing just three minutes of footage:
I think this strips away at Israel’s moral authority and makes it more difficult for Israel’s allies to support this campaign.
It’s incredible stuff. A supposedly reputable journalist claiming that a dubiously edited clip might prompt Israeli allies to withdraw their support.
As long as the questions above are left unasked and unanswered, the only thing that may be stripped away is the journalistic integrity of ITV News.
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 News Video of ‘Possible Israeli War Crime’ Raises Disturbing Questions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians

US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.
While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.
Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty.”
The kingdom said it valued “brotherly” states’ rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.
“This occupying extremist mindset does not comprehend what the Palestinian territory means for the brotherly people of Palestine and its conscientious, historical and legal association with that land,” it said.
Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza has been upended by Tuesday’s shock proposal from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
Arab states have roundly condemned Trump’s comments, which came during a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that Israel has been waging against the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the narrow strip.
Trump has said Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
The post Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.
The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
The post Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home

Relatives hug a released Thai hostage, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and held in Gaza, as the hostages arrive in Thailand following their release, at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakan, Thailand, February 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
When Surasak Rumnao, 31, left his home in Thailand’s rural Udon Thani province three years ago to go across the world to the southern Israeli town of Yesha for agriculture work, his family never imagined they would lose touch with him for over a year when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in October 2023.
He and four others were reunited with their families this weekend after their release from captivity in Gaza.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in their October 2023 attack on Israel.
During the attack, Hamas terrorists killed more than 40 Thais and kidnapped 31 Thai laborers, some of whom died in captivity, according to the Thai government. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.
Surasak’s mother, Khammee Rumnao, was relieved that her son was not mistreated and has returned to his home, about 620 km(385 miles) northeast of the capital, Bangkok.
“He mainly got to eat bread, he was looked after well and was fed all three meals (each day). He got to shower, he was looked after well,” Khammee said, and that he ate whatever his captors had.
Her son does not plan to go back and wants to use the knowledge he gained in his agricultural work in Israel at their home, she said.
His grandparents and other relatives came to their home to welcome him home.
His stepfather, Janda Prachanan, was elated.
“I couldn’t find the words to describe how happy I am, that my son is safe and finally home,” he said.
Earlier on Sunday, the other returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with tears of joy from their families who were waiting for their arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace … to be standing here,” said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees said. “I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who met the hostages in Israel after their release last week, expressed relief.
“This is emotional … to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said. “We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”
Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9,000 Thais were repatriated following the October 7 attacks.
The workers primarily come from Thailand’s northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.
“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two deceased Thai nationals.
The post Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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