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The Media Has Ignored 11 Months of Hezbollah Attacks to Blame Israel for Recent Violence
Firefighters respond to a fire near a rocket attack from Lebanon, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, June 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
On Monday, September 23, hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalated, as the IDF struck hundreds of terror targets in southern Lebanon and Beirut. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed terror group launched volleys of rockets, missiles, and drones deep into northern and central Israel.
Israel’s strikes targeted Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure, marking the latest in a week-long effort to halt the group’s relentless bombardment of northern Israel since October 8. The operation aims to stop the barrage, and enable tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return home along the Lebanese border.
To minimize Lebanese civilian casualties, the IDF issued warnings through text messages, phone calls, and radio alerts, urging civilians to evacuate areas where Hezbollah hides its weapons.
Yet, despite the precision of Israel’s operations, multiple news outlets ran headlines framing the strikes as indiscriminate, and casting Israel as the primary instigator of tensions along its northern border.
Hezbollah has been relentlessly bombarding Israel’s north for 11 months. Over the last few days, the IDF has been targeting the terror group’s members and weapons in order to put a stop to it.
However, you would never know this from reading these media headlines. pic.twitter.com/H4qZJCoZ5o
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 24, 2024
For example, The Washington Post’s headline described Israel’s precision strikes on Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure as “Hundreds of Israeli airstrikes pound Lebanon,” while its subheading placed equal blame on both Israel and Hezbollah for escalating the conflict.
This framing conveniently ignored that Hezbollah initiated the violence by launching rockets at northern Israel on October 8, 2023 — and continuing until today:
Similarly, headlines by Voice of America and NBC News reported on Israeli strikes against Lebanon, giving the misleading impression that Israel was targeting the Lebanese state as a whole, rather than focusing on the terror organization that controls southern Lebanon.
Headlines from the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, and Politico focused solely on Lebanese casualties, omitting the fact that these numbers included Hezbollah fighters. They also failed to mention that Israel’s strikes were aimed at Hezbollah’s weapon caches and personnel.
Anyone reading these headlines would be left with the false impression that Israel was conducting an indiscriminate bombing campaign against innocent Lebanese civilians, devoid of any clear tactical objective.
In another headline, the Associated Press accused Israel of “escalating” the conflict, conveniently ignoring Hezbollah’s months-long campaign of rocket attacks on northern Israel and the recent intensification of its strikes on Israeli civilian areas.
Here’s @AP accusing Israel of “escalating” a conflict while it defends itself against relentless Hezbollah attacks.
In what world does this pass for objective reporting? https://t.co/tYZw6qqlcm pic.twitter.com/Baz9wBT2gp
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 24, 2024
One of the most egregious headlines came from Sky News, which accused Israel of “provoking” Hezbollah into fully deploying its arsenal.
In the bizarre worldview of Sky News and its international affairs editor, Dominic Waghorn, Israel is painted as an irrational aggressor while Hezbollah is portrayed as a rational, restrained entity. Only by completely disregarding Hezbollah’s actions over the past 11 months could such a tone-deaf headline be justified.
It’s not just the headlines causing issues. CNN’s ongoing coverage of the escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah has consistently pushed a narrative that Israel shows little concern for civilians caught in the crossfire. CNN has largely placed the blame for rising tensions on Israel, downplaying Hezbollah’s role in initiating the conflict 11 months ago and its relentless bombardment of northern Israel ever since.
By fixating on Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah positions while disregarding or downplaying the terror group’s central role in this conflict, the media not only undermines Israel’s legitimate acts of self-defense in the court of public opinion, but also provides cover for Hezbollah to continue its aggression against the Jewish State.
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 The Media Has Ignored 11 Months of Hezbollah Attacks to Blame Israel for Recent Violence 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.