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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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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.