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Voice of America Whitewashes Terror Backgrounds of Gazan Journalists
In the early morning hours of March 18, 2024, Israeli forces raided Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza to remove the Hamas presence that had re-emerged months after being routed by the Israeli military in November 2023.
According to the IDF, 40 Hamas terrorists were killed during the gun battle that ensued, and 200 others were detained as suspected terror operatives.
One of those detained was Ismail Al-Ghoul, who identified himself as an Al Jazeera journalist.
Voice of America (VOA) dedicated an entire piece to Al-Ghoul’s arrest and subsequent release, as well as claims about Israeli treatment of Palestinian journalists throughout the war between Israel and Hamas.
However, this piece was a one-sided attack on Israel’s conduct during the war which ignores vital context, disregards emerging information about Al-Ghoul’s connection to Hamas, and misrepresents Israel’s treatment of Palestinian journalists.
IDF: Troops raid Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, battle Hamas members holed up inside https://t.co/kYYwFpD4Ke
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) March 18, 2024
VOA glaringly omits the vital context that the IDF raided Al-Shifa on specific intelligence that Hamas terrorists were once again present there. In fact, the word “Hamas” only appears once in the entire piece, a passing reference to the terror group’s October 7 invasion of southern Israel.
Without the necessary context, the average reader is left with the impression that Israel’s early morning raid on Al-Shifa was just a wanton exhibition of violence inside the Gaza Strip’s largest medical center.
The IDF says troops have so far killed more than 50 Hamas gunmen during its ongoing raid at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.
The operation, which began early Monday morning, is being carried out by the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, the 401st Armored Brigade, and the Shin Bet… pic.twitter.com/t0yBv9zbIY
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 19, 2024
Just as VOA ignores Hamas when describing the IDF raid in this report, it also completely disregards the Gaza-based terror organization when discussing Ismail Al-Ghoul.
According to the publicly-funded American media outlet, Al-Ghoul is an “Arabic-language correspondent” for the Qatar-based news network, Al Jazeera.
While it might be technically accurate, this banal description of Al-Ghoul is hardly a complete picture of who he is and what he stands for.
In the hours following his arrest, both Israeli analyst Eitan Fischberger and British investigative journalist David Collier did deep dives into Al-Ghoul’s background, unearthing his ties to Hamas as well as deleted social media accounts full of anti-Israel incitement, praise for terrorism, and glorification of internationally recognized terror groups.
Probably the most sophisticated Al Jazeera “journalist” psy-op yet:
You may have seen the headlines today about Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, who was apprehended by the IDF in Shifa Hospital while it was battling terrorists.
Given the multiple instances since… pic.twitter.com/GemeIhzTxB
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 18, 2024
From Fischberger’s and Collier’s research, it appears that Ismail Al-Ghoul began working as a correspondent for Al Jazeera after October 7 and the beginning of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Prior to joining the Qatar-based broadcaster, Al-Ghoul worked for a variety of media outlets and “media production companies,” including the Hamas-affiliated outlets Felesteen and Al-Resalah.
It was also discovered that all of Al-Ghoul’s current social media accounts had been opened between November 2023 and February 2024, during his tenure at Al Jazeera.
According to Fischberger, the deletion of Al-Ghoul’s old social media accounts and their replacement with clean new ones is part of a “highly sophisticated, concerted effort” to “manufacture a ‘legitimate journalist’ out of whole cloth.”
In effect, Al-Ghoul appears to have rebranded himself as a respectable journalist instead of the mouthpiece for terrorism and incitement that is apparent in his now-deleted social media accounts.
10/ To clarify: al-Ghoul’s prior TikTok, X, and Instagram accounts were deleted. We know this because the usernames of his new accounts on the platforms all end with the number 2.
It’s no small feat to erase much of someone’s social media presence, create new profiles, and then… pic.twitter.com/LD3esrzwVa
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 18, 2024
Both Eitan Fischberger and David Collier have discovered posts from these accounts that glorify Palestinian terrorists, including Yahya Sinwar, the ruthless leader of Hamas in Gaza, who is thought to be primarily responsible for planning the October 7 terror attack, and members of the PFLP and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades who were killed in gun battles with Israeli security forces.
Along with his praise for Palestinian terrorists, Al-Ghoul also advocated terrorism against Israelis, uploading posts that celebrate rockets fired toward Israeli population centers and lone-wolf terror attacks conducted against Israeli civilian targets.
In addition, Al-Ghoul also incited against the Jewish state, referring to Israel in one post as “the greatest epidemic.”
Following its coverage of Al-Ghoul’s arrest, VOA then sought to add context by referencing reports by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Israel’s treatment of Palestinian journalists during the war.
However, much like its description of Ismail Al-Ghoul, VOA leaves out vital information.
For example, it reports that, according to the CPJ, 90 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed so far during the war.
What’s missing from this statistic is the fact that a substantial number of these media personnel worked for Hamas-affiliated news organizations.
In late February 2024, HonestReporting discovered that, based on information provided by the CPJ and the Meir Amit Intelligence and Information Center, over half the journalists killed in Gaza were members of or affiliated with a proscribed terror organization.
Even though the CPJ mentions the terror affiliations of several journalists in its own report, VOA remains mum on the subject, leaving its readers with the impression that all these journalists were deliberately targeted by Israel for their reporting.
Similarly, VOA reports that, based on a CPJ report, Israel is a “leading jailer of journalists,” having arrested 17 Palestinian journalists since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
Once again, this statistic lacks vital context.
As pointed out by the Committee For Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA UK), the CPJ notes that two of these journalists were arrested for “incitement,” a charge that exists in other Western countries.
In addition, CAMERA UK lists several more of these Palestinian journalists who have either publicly endorsed terrorism or worked for outlets that advocate attacks against Israeli civilians.
This context is necessary to dispel the false impression that these journalists were arrested by Israeli authorities simply to stifle their free speech.
Sadly, @pressfreedom knows that the only way to draw attention to 242 journalists listed is to focus on 17 it claims Israel has jailed.
Did CPJ even bother to find out how many of the 17 are affiliated with Palestinian terror orgs or were actively involved in terror activities? https://t.co/fYjxR6XgKm
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 18, 2024
When VOA and other media organizations accuse Israel of deliberately killing Palestinian journalists while whitewashing the close connection between Gazan journalists and internationally recognized terror groups, it’s both context-free journalism and a contributor to anti-Israel sentiment.
In the end, this not only harms Israel’s fight against terrorism but also does a disservice to champions of press freedom and integrity in Gaza and around the world.
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.
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Trump Open to Meeting Iran’s Leaders, Sees Chance of Nuclear Deal
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump this week said he is open to meeting Iran’s supreme leader or president and that he thinks the two countries will strike a new deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
However, Trump, who in 2018 pulled the US out of a now moribund nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, repeated a threat of military action against Iran unless a new pact is swiftly reached to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.
Trump, in an April 22 interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran” following indirect US-Iranian talks last week in which the side agreed to draw up a framework for a potential deal.
The Republican US president, speaking separately to reporters at the White House on Friday, reiterated his positive prognosis, saying: “Iran, I think, is going very well. We’ll see what happens.”
A US official said the discussions yielded “very good progress.”
Asked by Time whether he was open to meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner who has the last say on all major state policies, or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied: “Sure.”
Expert-level talks are set to resume on Saturday in Oman, which has acted as intermediary between the longtime adversaries, with a third round of high-level nuclear discussions planned for the same day.
Israel, a close US ally and Iran’s major Middle East foe, has described the Islamic Republic’s escalating uranium enrichment program – a potential pathway to nuclear bombs – as an “existential threat.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, saying partial measures will not suffice to ensure Israel’s security.
Asked in the interview if he was concerned Netanyahu might drag the United States into a war with Iran, Trump said: “No.”
‘I’LL BE LEADING THE PACK’
However, when asked if the US would join a war against Iran should Israel take action, he responded: “I may go in very willingly if we can’t get a deal. If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack.”
In March, Iran responded to a letter from Trump in which he urged it to negotiate a new deal by stating it would not engage in direct talks under maximum pressure and military threats but was open to indirect negotiations, as in the past.
Although the current talks have been indirect and mediated by Oman, US and Iranian officials did speak face-to-face briefly following the first round on April 12.
The last known face-to-face negotiations between the two countries took place under former US President Barack Obama during diplomacy that led to the 2015 nuclear accord.
Western powers accuse Iran of harboring a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly peaceful. The 2015 deal temporarily curbed its uranium enrichment activity in exchange for relief from international sanctions, but Iran resumed and accelerated enrichment after the Trump walkout in 2018.
The post Trump Open to Meeting Iran’s Leaders, Sees Chance of Nuclear Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say
US President Donald speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC on March 3, 2025. Photo: Leah Millis via Reuters Connect
The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during US President Donald Trump‘s visit to the kingdom in May.
The offered package comes after the administration of former President Joe Biden unsuccessfully tried to finalize a defense pact with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisioned Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.
The Biden proposal offered access to more advanced US weaponry in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing’s investment in the country. Reuters could not establish if the Trump administration’s proposal includes similar requirements.
The White House and Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A US Defense official said: “Our defense relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever under President Trump‘s leadership. Maintaining our security cooperation remains an important component of this partnership and we will continue to work with Saudi Arabia to address their defense needs.”
In his first term, Trump celebrated weapons sales to Saudi Arabia as good for US jobs.
Lockheed Martin Corp could supply a range of advanced weapons systems including C-130 transport aircraft, two of the sources said. One source said Lockheed would also supply missiles and radars.
RTX Corp, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, is also expected to play a significant role in the package, which will include supplies from other major US defense contractors such as Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp and General Atomics, said four of the sources.
All the sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
RTX, Northrop and General Atomics declined to comment. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions. Questions about sales to foreign governments are best addressed by the US government.
Reuters could not immediately establish how many of the deals on offer were new. Many have been in the works for some time, two of the sources said. For example, the kingdom first requested information about General Atomics’ drones in 2018, they said. Over the past 12 months, a deal for $20 billion of General Atomics’ MQ-9B SeaGuardian-style drones and other aircraft came into focus, according to one of the sources.
Several executives from defense companies are considering traveling to the region as a part of the delegation, three of the sources said.
The US has long supplied Saudi Arabia with weapons. In 2017, Trump proposed approximately $110 billion of sales to the kingdom.
As of 2018, only $14.5 billion of sales had been initiated and Congress began to question the deals in light of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In 2021, under Biden, Congress imposed a ban on sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi killing and to pressure the kingdom to wind down its Yemen war, which had inflicted heavy civilian casualties.
Under US law, major international weapons deals must be reviewed by members of Congress before they are finalized.
The Biden administration began to soften its stance on Saudi Arabia in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacted global oil supplies. The ban on offensive weapons sales was lifted in 2024, as Washington worked more closely with Riyadh in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack to devise a plan for post-war Gaza.
A potential deal for Lockheed’s F-35 jets, which the kingdom has been reportedly interested in for years, is expected to be discussed, three of the sources said, while downplaying the chances for an F-35 deal being signed during the trip.
The United States guarantees that its close ally Israel receives more advanced American weapons than Arab states, giving it what is labeled a “Qualitative Military Edge” (QME) over its neighbors.
Israel has now owned F-35s for nine years, building multiple squadrons.
The post Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Summons Dutch Envoy to Protest Assassination Attempts Claim
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to Tehran on Friday, the official IRNA news agency reported, a day after the Netherlands called in Iran‘s envoy over suspicions that Iran was behind two assassination attempts.
An Iranian foreign ministry official described the Dutch accusation as “laughable” and based on “suspicions or assumptions,” according to IRNA.
“It is regrettable that the Dutch diplomatic apparatus acts so easily on speculations injected by its security bodies and the Zionist regime [Israel], and even summons the Iranian ambassador over such an absurd fabrication,” the official, Alireza Yousefi, was quoted as saying.
The Netherlands summoned Iran‘s ambassador after the Dutch intelligence agency, known as the AIVD, said in its annual report published on Thursday that it was likely Iran was behind two assassination attempts in the Netherlands and Spain.
Two men were arrested in June 2024 in the Dutch town of Haarlem after an assassination attempt on an Iranian residing in the country, the report said.
One of the suspects was also believed to have been behind the failed assassination attempt on Spanish politician and Iran critic Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Madrid in November 2023, it said.
The post Iran Summons Dutch Envoy to Protest Assassination Attempts Claim first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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