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The Dangerous Lies of Guardian Columnist Owen Jones About Israel-Hamas War
The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
The harrowing 47-minute film titled Bearing Witness features footage of the October 7 massacre that was taken from body cameras worn by Hamas terrorists, CCTV from street and home security systems, car dash cameras, and even the mobile phones of victims.
Described as “disturbing,” “traumatizing,” and “evidence of genocide,” the film shows the uncensored horror of the October 7 massacre in southern Israel by Hamas: men and women being shot, stabbed, and blown up; bodies of dead babies still lying in their cribs where they were executed; naked and brutalized corpses of women after they were gang-raped; charred remains of humans burnt beyond all recognition.
It’s the stuff of nightmares, and also incontrovertible proof of the unspeakable savagery perpetrated by Hamas on innocent and unarmed civilians.
But for British left-wing activist and Guardian columnist Owen Jones, the 47 minutes apparently wasn’t enough proof.
Shortly after attending a press screening of the film in the UK, Jones uploaded a 25-minute video of himself discussing the film called, “I Watched The Hamas Massacre Film. Here Are My Thoughts” to his personal YouTube channel.
As stomach-churning as it is self-indulgent, the video shows Jones repeatedly attempting to cast doubt on certain aspects of the massacre, including the rape of women by Hamas terrorists and whether children were intentionally killed during the slaughter.
Guardian journalist Owen Jones has been criticised for questioning Hamas’ war crimes.
Watch Plank Of The Week – tonight at 7pm on TalkTV.@iromg | @BareReality | @russellquirk | @OwenJones84 pic.twitter.com/AnuJZEzoKM
— TalkTV (@TalkTV) December 1, 2023
While Jones has been censured over his abhorrent remarks — some of which he has since claimed were taken out of context — the fact remains that The Guardian’s most high-profile columnist has been a big driver of misinformation and disinformation throughout the Israel-Hamas war.
Just last week, for example, Jones appeared on ITV’s popular show Good Morning Britain to talk about the temporary ceasefire and hostage release negotiations.
At one point during the discussion, Jones falsely claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had visited northern Gaza on November 29 and placed a rock that marked the first step toward the rebuilding of Israeli settlements inside the Strip.
The truth was that Netanyahu had been in southern Israel that day visiting communities that were devastated on October 7, and the rock that he laid down was, in fact, the foundation stone for a new community inside Israel to be named “Ofir,” after Ofir Libstein, the head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, who was killed while defending his community against Hamas terrorists.
More lies from @OwenJones84 who falsely claimed on @ITV‘s @GMB that Israeli PM Netanyahu was in northern Gaza “laying a rock” for a new settlement & talking about rebuilding Gaza settlements.
Actually, Netanyahu was in the south of Israel, not northern Gaza, laying the… pic.twitter.com/AuLW5ALeSt
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 3, 2023
After HonestReporting called out Jones’s blatant lies on social media, he issued an apology in which he claimed his mistake was the result of a mistranslated tweet, while still doubling down on the pernicious and untrue charge that Israel is seeking to ethically cleanse the Gaza Strip.
Just want to correct an error I made on @GMB on Thursday.
On my way to the studios, I read this tweet which was widely circulated and understood as Benjamin Netanyahu committing to building new settlements on the Gaza Strip.
In fact it was a Google Translate error which… https://t.co/8BgBLVpbWF
— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) December 3, 2023
Although Jones acknowledged the “life or death” consequences of spreading false information during a war, such words appear hollow considering the sheer number of times Jones has been guilty of doing so.
When the IDF uncovered evidence of a Hamas command center located within the Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip, the army found security camera footage that showed Israeli hostages had been taken there after being abducted from Israel on October 7.
Posting clips showing terrorists armed with guns and knives dragging a person inside, Jones ludicrously claimed the footage offered proof that “injured hostages were taken there for medical treatment” by their captors.
Jones has hundreds of thousands of followers and subscribers across his social media platforms.
When he tells a lie, it is disseminated far and wide with untold repercussions.
Good Morning Britain regularly tops one million viewers, which means up to a million people heard Owen Jones assert, with absolutely no push-back from the hosts, that Israel was building Jewish settlements inside the Gaza Strip.
How many of those people heard about his perfunctory apology and retraction issued three days later? Probably nowhere close to the one million people who heard the lie.
The post The Dangerous Lies of Guardian Columnist Owen Jones About Israel-Hamas War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.