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The Washington Post Uses Misleading Data to Castigate Israel for Death of Children
Israeli soldiers inspect the entrance to what they say is a tunnel used by Hamas terrorists during a ground operation in a location given as Gaza, in this handout image released Nov. 9, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
On November 13, 2023, The Washington Post published an in-depth report on the toll that Israel’s war against Hamas has taken on the people of Gaza.
Of particular focus were the child casualties in Gaza. Based on the numbers published by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, the report stated that, at the time of publication, more than 4,000 children had been killed in Gaza.
In comparing the number of children killed in Gaza to the number of children killed in other major world conflicts, The Washington Post created the impression that the damage wrought by Israel in its fight against Hamas is unique in the annals of modern warfare.
First, given that has Hamas is a terrorist organization, and has been caught lying about casualty figures — such as during the al-Ahli Hospital blast — it’s impossible to know if those numbers are accurate.
Second, Evan Hill, one of The Washington Post’s investigative journalists, even tweeted that this comparison of casualties suggests “The Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza might be killing children at a rate unprecedented in 21st-century conflict.”
The Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza might be killing children at a rate unprecedented in 21st-century conflict, this data suggests.
(By @RubyMellen @arturgalocha & @juledurg)
https://t.co/wzk9hntG36 pic.twitter.com/9rY0qOHTG7
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) November 14, 2023
However, further investigation by freelance journalist Omer Biran found The Washington Post’s findings to be faulty, as they dramatically understated the total number of children killed in these other conflicts.
Biran found that child casualty statistics from Iraq and Afghanistan failed to give the complete picture, as they did not include the numbers from the first years of those wars.
For the war in Afghanistan (which began in 2001), The Washington Post reportedly relied on UN statistics that began in 2009 (a gap of 8 years). Similarly, for the war in Iraq (which began in 2003), The Post relied on statistics from when UNICEF began tracking these casualties in 2008 (a gap of 5 years).
Biran also observed that The Washington Post relied on heavily conservative numbers that have been verified by international bodies. However, even these organizations agree that the numbers are likely much higher than those that have been independently verified.
For example, The Washington Post stated that, based on the UN, the total number of children killed during the Syrian Civil War was 12,000.
In 2021, UNICEF’s representative in Syria stated that the “actual numbers are likely to be much higher” while, in 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Office estimated that the total number of children killed was at least 27, 126.
Similarly, the number of children killed in Yemen during its civil war is actually much higher than The Washington Post’s estimate of 4,000 children.
According to a November 2021 UN report, the death toll from the civil war would reach 377,000 casualties, with over 70% of these casualties being under the age of five. It should be noted that this estimate includes both direct and indirect casualties. The Gaza Ministry of Health also does not differentiate between direct and indirect casualties.
Aside from the incongruence of the years given by The Washington Post for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the numbers of child casualties in these wars are also thought to be much higher than those given in this piece.
While The Washington Post gave the number of children killed in Afghanistan to be 8,000, it is estimated that over 70,000 Afghani and Pakistani civilians were directly killed during this war. Statistically, the number would then be most likely much higher than 8,000.
In Iraq, UNICEF agrees that the number of children killed during that conflict is much higher than the verified number of 3,119, which was used by The Washington Post.
In a joint statement, the 27-member bloc condemned Hamas for the use of hospitals and civilians as “human shields.”
At the same time, the EU asked Israel “for maximum restraint and targeting in order to avoid human casualties.”https://t.co/gX32ezjRXG pic.twitter.com/O9Lu02Ypmp
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 13, 2023
Whether in Gaza, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, or Afghanistan, the death of innocent children during war is tragic.
However, The Washington Post’s attempt to contextualize the number of children killed in Gaza by using incomplete statistics about other 21st-century wars does nothing other than help to prop up a false and toxic narrative about Israel’s conduct in its fight against the Hamas terror organization.
The post The Washington Post Uses Misleading Data to Castigate Israel for Death of Children first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
The post Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
The post Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
The post US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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