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Reuters Under-Reports Israelis Killed by Palestinian Terrorists — Refuses to Correct Error

People rush to a soccer field hit by a Hezbollah rocket in the majority-Druze northern Israeli town Majdal Shams Photo: Via 924, from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law

While the Associated Press last month grossly over-reported the number of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip — leading to corrections appearing in more than 80 media outlets — Reuters has significantly underreported Israeli fatalities in the same war.

In their Sept. 1 article, “Three Israeli police killed in West Bank shooting attack,” Reuters’ James Mackenzie and Ali Sawafta significantly understated both the number of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks, and the number of Israeli and foreign fatalities as a result of Hezbollah attacks, claiming:

The latest deaths bring the number of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks outside Gaza since Oct. 7 to at least 22, with around 20 Israelis and foreigners killed by missile attacks from southern Lebanon.

First, regarding the number of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks outside of Gaza since Oct. 7, the Institute for National Security Studies reports that 38 Israelis have been killed in terror attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem from Oct. 8 into July — far more than the 22 the article states. (Scroll down on the INSS link to “The West Bank and Jerusalem,” and then select the third slide.)

CAMERA has independently verified the names, dates, and circumstances of deaths for 33 Israelis killed by Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip (in Israel and the West Bank) since Oct. 7, plus two Jerusalem Arabs who may or may not have had Israeli citizenship but were likewise killed by Palestinian terrorists. See below for these details, including links.

Second, Mackenzie and Sawafta also substantially skewed the number of Israelis and foreigners killed by Hezbollah rocket attacks since Oct. 7, misleading that “20 Israelis and foreigners killed by missile attacks from southern Lebanon.” But no small number of Israelis have been killed by drones and artillery launched from Lebanon.

Why apply a weapons-specific filter on reporting fatalities inflicted by Hezbollah attacks?

Indeed, when it comes to Palestinian fatalities, the article does not apply a weapons filter, citing, for instance, only airstrikes while excluding shooting. On Palestinian fatalities, Reuters reporting is all inclusive: “At the same time, Israeli forces have killed almost 680 Palestinians, including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and uninvolved civilians.”

So why ignore Hezbollah’s deadly attacks not involving missiles?

INSS reports 49 Israeli fatalities due to Hezbollah attacks, including rockets, drones, artillery and anti-tank missiles. (Scroll down to “Hezbollah attacks against Israel,” and then select the third slide, “Israel-Lebanon border.”)

Similarly, The Times of Israel reported last week:

So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 20 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

On July 28, Reuters itself reported 40 have been killed on the Israeli side in Hezbollah attacks:

The Israeli military said after Saturday’s attack the death toll among civilians killed in Hezbollah attacks had risen to 23 since October, along with at least 17 soldiers.

Cross-checking against Haaretz‘s database of Israeli fatalities, we located details for 35 fatalities killed in Hezbollah attacks — again, far more than the 20 Reuters is now citing. See below for those names.

Though CAMERA provided Reuters with details for the following victims of Palestinian and Hezbollah attacks, editors have yet to correct the misreporting.

Post-Oct. 7, 2024 Victims of Palestinian Attacks Outside of the Gaza Strip

Staff Sgt. (res.) Adi Odeya Borech – Oct. 12, 2023 – rocket attack near Sderot, southern Israel
Elhanan Klein – Nov. 2, 2023 – West Bank shooting
Sgt. Elisheva Rose Ida Lubin – Nov. 6, 2023 – Jerusalem stabbing attack
Cpl. Avraham Fetena – Nov. 16, 2023 – “Tunnel Road” checkpoint shooting near Jerusalem
Liviya Dickman – Nov. 30, 2023 – Shot at Jerusalem bus stop
Hanna Ifergan – Nov. 30, 2023 – Shot at Jerusalem bus stop
Elimelech Wasserman – Nov. 30, 2023 – Shot at Jerusalem bus stop
Amar Mansour – Jan. 7, 2024 – West Bank shooting attack (north of Ofra)
Sergeant Shai Germai – Jan. 7, 2024 – Roadside bomb in Jenin, West Bank
Edna Bluestein – Jan. 15, 2024 – Raanana car ramming
Lara Tannous – Jan. 24, 2024 – Succumbed to wounds from Jan. 7 shooting
Uri Yaish – Feb. 16, 2024 – shooting at bus stop near Gedera, southern Israel
 Ishay Gertner – Feb. 16, 2024 – shooting at bus stop near Gedera, southern Israel
Matan Elmaliach – Feb. 22, 2024, shooting on Highway 1, near Maaleh Adumim in West Bank
Uria Hartum – Feb. 29, 2024 – shooting at West Bank gas station, Eli junction
Yitzhak Zeiger – Feb. 29, 2024 – shooting at West Bank gas station, Eli junction
Uri Moyal – March 14 –  Beit Kama stabbing, central Israel
Sgt. 1st Ilay David Garfinkel – March 22, 2024 – West Bank shooting attack
Lidor Levy – April 4, fatally wounded in stabbing attack March 31 in Gan Yavne mall
Benjamin Achimeir – April 13, 2024 — brutal slaughter of 14-year-old shepherd
Staff Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj – May 30, 2024 – West Bank car-ramming
Staff Sgt. Eliya Hilel– May 30, 2024 – West Bank car-ramming
Moshe Dadush, 76 – June 20, 2044 – mortally wounded when car violently stolen near Qalqilya
Cpt. Alon Sacgiu – June 27 — Fell in combat in a military operation in the West Bank
Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Yehuda Geto – July 1 – roadside bomb in West Bank
Capt. Ariel Topaz – July 24, 2024 – mortally wounded in July 14 ramming attack at Nir Tzvi junction, central Israel
Amnon Muchtar – June 22, 2024 – Shot while shopping in Qalqilya
Rina Daniv – Aug. 4 – Stabbing in Holon, central Israel
Avraham Soumichi – Aug. 4 – Stabbing in Holon, central Israel
Yonatan Deutsch – Aug. 11, 2024 – West Bank shooting
Gideon Peri – Aug. 18, 2024 – West Bank hammer attack
1st Sgt. Elkana Navon, 20 – Aug. 31, 2024 –Fell in combat in the West Bank city of Jenin
Hadas Barnatz – Sept. 1, 2024 – West Bank shooting attack on 3 police officers
Arik Ben-Eliyahu – Sept. 1, 2024 – West Bank shooting attack on 3 police officers
Advanced Staff Sgt. Maj. Roni Shkuri – Sept. 1, 2024  – West Bank shooting attack on 3 police officers

Post-Oct. 7 Victims of Hezbollah Attacks (See Haaretz database)

Chief warrant officer Mahmood Amaria – Hezbollah drone attack in northern Israel on August 19, 2024
Michael Samara, Wounded by a Hezbollah rocket attack on August 6 and died of his wounds on August 9, 2024
Nir Poupko, 28, Killed by a rocket attack launched by Hezbollah on July 30, 2024
Jafara Ibrahim, 11, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Nathem Fakher Saeb, 16, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Milad Muadad al-Sha’ar, 10, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Naji Taher al-Halabi, 11, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din, 11, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Yazan Nayeif Abu Saleh, 12, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Finis Adham Safadi, 11, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Iseel Nasha’at Ayoub, 12, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
John Wadeea Ibrahim, 13, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Hazem Akram Abu Saleh, 15, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Ameer Rabeea Abu Saleh, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Fajr Laith Abu Saleh, 16, Killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack at a soccer field on July 27, 2024
Sergeant first class (res.) Efraim Ben Amram, wounded in a battle by a Hezbollah drone attack on a military base in northern Israel on June, 30, died of his wounds on July 18, 2024
Master sergeant (res.) Valeri Chefonov, 33, killed by a Hezbollah explosive-laden drone attack near the Kibbutz Kabri on July 11, 2024

Nir Baranes, 46, Killed in a rocket impact in the Golan Height on July 9, 2024
Noa Baranes, 46, Killed in a rocket impact in the Golan Height on July 9, 2024

Major (res.) Itay Galea, 38, killed in the Hezbollah attack on a military base on the Golan Heights in northern Israel on July 4, 2024
First sergeant (res.) Refael Kauders, 39, fell in battle by a Hezbollah drone attack on Hurfeish in the Upper Galille on June 5, 2024
Sharif Suad, 35, Killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah to the Mount Dov area on April 26, 2024
Major (res.) Dor Zimel, 27, wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack in Arab al-Aramshe on April 17, died of his wounds on April 21, 2024
Zaher Bashara, 38, killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack from Lebanon on the Upper Galilee on March 27, 2024
Maxwell Patnibin, 31, Foreign worker, killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah at Moshav Margaliot on March 4, 2024
Staff sergeant Omer Sarah Benjo, 20, killed in a Hezbollah strike launch carried out from Lebanese territory to a base in the north of the country on February 14, 2024
Mira Ayalon, 76, Killed in a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack on January 14, 2024
Staff sergeant (res.) Barak Ayalon, 48, Member of the community’s security squad, Killed in a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack on January 14, 2024
Sergeant Amit Hod Ziv, 19, fell in battle by a Hezbollah rocket attack from Lebanon on the Shtula area on December 22
Eyal Uzan, 54, killed by Hezbollah anti-tank missile on December 7

In addition, the following are detailed by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

1st Sgt. David Moshe Ben Shitrit, 21, of Geva Binyamin — mortally wounded Aug. 25 on his navy ship during interception of Hezbollah drone attack
Master Sgt. (res.) Dan Kamkagi, 31, killed May 6, in northern Israel by anti-tank missile
Master Sgt. (res.) Nahman Natan Hertz, 31, killed May 6, in northern Israel by anti-tank missile
Staff Sgt. Daniel Nachmani, 21, Succumbed Dec. 24 to wounds sustained from artillery fire from Lebanon on December 22
Warrant Officer (res.) Yehezkel Azaria, 53, fell in drone attack the Margaliot region of northern Israel
Tamar Sternthal is the director of CAMERA’s Israel Office. A version of this article previously appeared on the CAMERA website.

The post Reuters Under-Reports Israelis Killed by Palestinian Terrorists — Refuses to Correct Error first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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‘Who Is the Biggest Bastard?’ Belgian Politician Equates Israel With Hamas After Refusing Jewish New Year Greeting

Matthias Diependaele, Minister‑President of Flanders, has faced backlash after declining to send a Rosh Hashanah message to Belgium’s Jewish community. Photo: Screenshot

A senior Belgian politician who recently refused to send a Jewish New Year message has once again sparked outrage for equating Israel with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Matthias Diependaele, Minister‑President of Flanders — the Dutch-speaking region in northern Belgium — was speaking before the Flemish Parliament on Tuesday when he argued the world’s lone Jewish state and only democracy in the Middle East was no better morally than an international designated terrorist group.

“How do you explain who is the biggest bastard?” he asked. “On the one hand, you have an innovative, modern country that should be based on Western standards, but uses disproportionate force and commits human rights violations without any compassion. On the other hand, you see a terrorist organization that doesn’t hesitate to hide behind a human shield. Who is the bigger bastard? The one who shoots at children? Or the one who uses them as a human shield? I don’t know. I choose the innocent victims, and I want to think about how best to help them.”

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the ongoing war with their invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages while perpetrating widespread sexual violence. In response, Israel has waged a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths during its war effort to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas, which rules Gaza, has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the Israeli miitary.

Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.

Diependaele belongs to the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the same center-right party led by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. His parliamentary remarks prompted immediate backlash.

“The Flemish Alliance has completely surrendered to leftist pressure and no longer has a moral compass. He compares a free society and democratic state, existentially threatened, to a gang of murderous Muslim terrorists,” said Sam van Rooy, a lawmaker from the right-wing Vlaams Belang party, according to multiple reports. “This is why I continue responding to the anti-Israeli debate, constantly fed by leftist parties and traditional parties — it causes masks to fall. Israel is a litmus test. Now we know that, unfortunately, Flanders is controlled by a prime minister who cannot distinguish between good and evil.”

Diependaele has even received criticism from other members of Belgium’s five-party federal government coalition.

Sammy Mahdi, head of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V), described the remarks in an Instagram post as “shameful” and indicative of “a lack of common sense.”

CD&V and Vooruit, another political party in the coalition, said on Wednesday that Diependaele was not speaking on behalf of the government, according to Belgian media.

Diependaele’s comments came after he declined a request last week by the Belgian Jewish newspaper The Centrale to provide a Rosh Hashanah message. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, will take place in late September this year.

“After internal deliberation, we regret to inform you that, given the current situation and sensitivities concerning the tensions in the Middle East, we cannot follow up on your request,” the statement from Diependaele’s office read.

“Anything that bears even the slightest connection to this conflict is being closely monitored and examined under a magnifying glass. For that reason, we do not deem it opportune to go into this any further,” it continued.

According to the Jewish newspaper, requesting a Rosh Hashanah greeting from Belgium’s leaders for the country’s Jewish citizens has been a long-standing tradition.

“This year, even that became radioactive,” The Centrale wrote.

Shortly after the newspaper published Diependaele’s response, which drew widespread outrage from Belgium’s Jewish community, the politician rejected claims of antisemitism and attempted to defend his earlier statement.

“My refusal is purely based on the principle that, for more than 15 years in my role as a representative of the people, I have not supported religious activities,” Diependaele wrote in a new letter sent to The Centrale.

“I have also never accepted invitations for the Eid. I have also never taken part in a Te Deum for Catholics,” the Flemsih leader continued. “By this I am in no way passing judgment on any religion or on the people who practice it. It is, however, my conviction that no religion — including my own — has any role to play in the exercise of my mandate.”

However, the paper rejected Diependaele’s new letter, arguing that his shift from “too sensitive right now” to a “timeless principle” was an attempt to mask his initial fear of public backlash.

The World Jewish Congress denounced Diependaele’s actions as a clear act of antisemitism.

“Holding Jews in the Diaspora collectively accountable for the actions of Israel – is antisemitic. To be a political leader, and to refuse to acknowledge the traditions and culture of your country’s Jewish community – because of Israel – is antisemitic,” the organization said in a statement. “What transpired is quite clear: A political leader declined to acknowledge their Jewish citizens because of Israel and the perceived public backlash about engaging with Jews.”

While members of the Belgian government have been pushing for a tougher stance against Israel amid the Gaza war, the country has been less critical of the Israeli military campaign in recent months than other European countries.

In late April, for example, De Wever rejected a journalist’s claim that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza and argued it is premature to recognize a “Palestinian state.”

Weeks earlier, Belgium announced it would not enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, should he visit Brussels.

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Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Says ‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism’

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi attends the annual festival of Greek Communist Youth in Athens, Greece, Sept. 22, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Costas Baltas

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi said on a podcast earlier this month that she is fighting Jews, not Zionism, and that she wishes for World War III.

“I was raised [to believe] that Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism [should] be presented to the children of Palestine – children of my age and younger – as occupation, and that we are fighting the Jews, not Zionism,” Tamimi, now 24, said on “The Enlightenment Podcast” on YouTube on Aug. 8.

Tamimi’s comments were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reported on and translated her remarks.

“The whole world needs to shut up, when a Palestinian is talking,” she said. “We are superior to the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the expense of our lives, and the expense of our humanity.”

Tamimi continued, “Every night when I go to sleep, I put my head on the pillow, and I pray to God to protect the humanity left inside me, because I don’t want to become a killer. In this West of yours, if a mother screams at her child, he grows up to become a serial killer.”

“I have reached a point where I wish for a World War III. Whoever dies, dies, and whoever lives, lives. The important thing is that we will be over with this. I have reached this point,” she said. “Let the whole world be destroyed, I don’t care. Let them drop nuclear bombs, and destroy the whole world, so it won’t be just the Palestinians.”

These recent comments are the most recent in a long string of radical remarks by Tamimi. In November 2023, she wrote, in an Instagram post, “Come on settlers, we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin – we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke.”

Speaking about Israelis who live in the West Bank, she said, “We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on, we are waiting for you.”

Tamimi became famous internationally in 2017 when a video of her, then just 16 years old, slapping, kicking, and yelling at Israeli soldiers went viral as a symbol of both Palestinian resistance to Israel, and the asymmetric nature of the conflict. The soldiers did not retaliate but did later arrest her.

Tamimi was convicted on four counts of assaulting an IDF officer and soldier, incitement, and interference with IDF forces in March 2018, and was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months of probation.

She was released a few months later, in July 2018. Since then, Tamimi has been hailed as a Palestinian human rights activist, received a book deal from Penguin Random House, and consistently received sympathetic coverage from Western news outlets.

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Trump Administration Reaffirms Opposition to Turkey Rejoining F-35 Program

A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

The Trump administration has reaffirmed its opposition to Turkey’s rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing Ankara’s possession of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to US Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a senior State Department official reiterated that Washington remains committed to enforcing the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which penalizes countries with financial ties to Russia’s defense sector.

“The Trump administration is fully committed to protecting US defense and intelligence assets and complying with US law, including CAATSA,” the letter read

The message, signed by Paul Guaglianone of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, stated that Washington’s position “has not changed” and that Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-supplied S-400 remains incompatible with US law and defense requirements. The official stressed that the Trump administration was fully committed to protecting American defense and intelligence assets while maintaining its obligations under the National Defense Authorization Act.

Despite the strained relationship, the letter emphasized that Turkey remains a longstanding NATO ally. US officials framed the relationship as critical to the security interests of both countries and signaled a willingness to maintain dialogue with Ankara.

In 2017, despite several US warnings, Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, leading to Turkey’s expulsion from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.

“The United States seeks to cooperate with Turkey on common priorities and to engage in dialogue to resolve disagreements,” Guaglianone wrote, while maintaining that Washington has “expressed our disapproval of Ankara’s acquisition of the S-400 and clearly conveyed steps that would need to be taken” in the sanctions review process.

The letter came after a bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law. Members of Congress warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington had begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.

Under Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon is prohibited from transferring F-35 jets or related technology to Turkey unless Ankara no longer possesses the Russian-made S-400 system and provides assurances it will not acquire such equipment in the future. Because Turkey continues to retain the S-400, US officials are legally barred from approving its participation in the F-35 program.

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