RSS
What Hostages? Media Ignore Hamas’ Captives, Oct. 7 Massacre
Posters on a wall in Tel Aviv highlighting the plight of Israeli hostages seized by Hamas. Photo: Reuters/Dylan Martinez
For the past five months, Israel has repeatedly stated its aims in the war against Hamas: destroy the terrorist organization, and secure the release of the hostages abducted during its deadly October 7 attack on the Jewish state.
But as these goals are supposedly within reach — pending an Israeli incursion into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah — international media outlets seem to have suddenly caught amnesia regarding the remaining 134 Israeli hostages and the barbaric Hamas massacre that sparked the war.
With coverage focused almost entirely on the plight of Gazans sheltering in Rafah — coupled with apocalyptic prophecies on their eternally imminent doom — the result of such omissions is a moral inversion that robs Israel of its right to self defense: Israel has become the aggressor in a war that has been forced upon it, and justice has turned into injustice.
As shown in the following examples, this inversion is achieved by using simple yet subtle reporting tactics — media outlets either omit Israel’s war aims altogether or mention only the destruction of Hamas without referring to the hostages. And there is no detailing of what happened on October 7, when Hamas terrorists brutally slaughtered 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped some 240 others into Gaza.
No Hamas, No Hostages
TIME Magazine and Reuters took the simple route: they totally omitted the hostages and Israel’s justification for the Rafah operation from their recent reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been widely quoted explaining why it was necessary to operate in Rafah in order to eliminate Hamas and release the remaining hostages.
But, disturbingly, instead of reporting it, TIME made it look like Israel was fighting against America, not Hamas:
By approving plans for the offensive, which the Israeli military says involve moving civilians to designated “humanitarian islands” elsewhere in the Strip, Netanyahu has signaled his intent to cross that red line.
In fact, the word “Hamas” is mentioned only once in TIME’s report, in the very last paragraph. And there is no mention of the October 7 massacre and the hostages.
The same problems plague Reuters’ report: it fails to mention the hostages and Hamas’ October 7 attack, and ignores Israel’s reasoning for a ground operation in Rafah.
What Reuters does include is a paragraph that creates the impression that Israel is arbitrarily planning to endanger more than a million Gazans in the cramped city:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed to a cabinet meeting on Sunday that Israeli forces would thrust into Rafah, the last relatively safe place in the tiny, crowded Gaza enclave after more than five months of war, despite international pressure for Israel to avoid civilian casualties.
And to top it off, the word “Hamas” isn’t mentioned at all in the Reuters report.
Undermining Israel’s Justification
AP and The New York Times took a more subtle approach.
They quoted Netanyahu on the need to enter Rafah to eliminate Hamas, but omitted his reference to the hostages and glossed over October 7 without elaboration.
So uninformed readers are left to wonder what exactly had Hamas done to warrant such a reaction from Israel. After all, not every “attack,” as it is dryly described by The New York Times, justifies such a military campaign.
And these omissions are all the more mind-boggling judging from the articles’ headlines, which seem to promise a full explanation as to why the Rafah operation is necessary for Israel:
How, @AP, can you attempt to explain “Why Israel is so determined to launch an offensive in Rafah” and fail to mention the 134 Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza?https://t.co/MFsRMls8qg pic.twitter.com/y7pkpw9gop
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) March 21, 2024
Ignoring the existence of hostages and Hamas’ massacre that ignited the war, while focusing instead on the suffering of displaced Palestinians, is bad journalism. But it’s worse than that.
The media’s decision to omit Hamas is tantamount to undermining Israel’s right to respond to a genocidal threat.
By doing so, the media paints a picture that actively serves Hamas’ agenda.
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 What Hostages? Media Ignore Hamas’ Captives, Oct. 7 Massacre first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
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.”
RSS
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.
RSS
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.