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What Really Happened at Gaza’s Al-Baqa Cafe?
Israeli soldiers operate at the opening to a tunnel at Al Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, Nov. 22, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
On June 30, the IDF carried out a targeted strike in Gaza City.
As is now routine, Palestinians on the ground quickly supplied a detailed death toll — more than 30 killed and dozens more injured, along with other vivid embellishments. Media outlets around the world eagerly picked up the story. Once again, tales of an alleged Israeli assault on innocent civilians made headlines before a single detail could be verified.
Here’s a sample of how the media reported the incident:
The New York Times cited Al-Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya, reporting that “more than 30 people had been killed” at the seaside cafe. The article later quoted a Hamas statement claiming Israel had “targeted innocent civilians gathered at a rest stop on the Gaza City beach.” No scrutiny of either source was offered.
The Guardian went a step further, suggesting the strike may have been a war crime. It cited unnamed “experts” who claimed the IDF used a 500lb bomb, supposedly based on “fragments” found at the scene.
ABC News’ (Australia) framing implied journalists were the intended targets, describing the cafe as a spot “frequented by journalists, media workers, activists and students.” The reported death toll, again, came from Gaza’s “civil defense agency,” i.e. Hamas.
NPR blurred the lines between separate incidents, running the headline: “74 killed in Gaza as Israeli forces strike a cafe and fire on people seeking food.”
CNN quoted “hospital officials” who claimed “dozens” were killed, while also noting that the cafe was popular with journalists and “remote workers” in Gaza.
We’re not going to dissect every example of hearsay, exaggeration, or recycled talking points in these articles. What matters is that they were all based on sources under Hamas control, and they all omitted critical details.
So let’s try and piece this puzzle together.
- The IDF confirmed it had targeted the Al-Baqa cafe, a venue located on Gaza City’s seafront promenade. According to the Israeli military, the strike was aimed at Hamas operatives in northern Gaza. The IDF is currently awaiting confirmation that a senior Hamas figure was among those eliminated.
- As with all operations where civilians could be harmed, the IDF would have conducted a legal and ethical assessment prior to the strike. The munition used was a precision-guided bomb, a standard bomb equipped with a JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) kit, which converts “dumb” bombs into highly accurate ones. As former Israeli diplomat and Jerusalem Center fellow Lenny Ben-David noted, this directly contradicts The Guardian’s suggestion that use of a 500lb bomb may constitute a war crime. On the contrary, precision strikes are exactly what international law demands.
- The source of the death toll was not even the Hamas-run health ministry, but Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya. He is the hospital director previously detained by Israel after the IDF exposed and documented a Hamas command center beneath Al-Shifa Hospital. Abu Salmiya has since alleged he was tortured while in custody, including claims of daily beatings and dog attacks. He has offered no evidence for any of these allegations, many of which border on the farcical.
- Several media outlets also emphasized that Al-Baqa was popular with journalists. Many cited Gazan journalist Bayan Abu Sultan, who was reportedly injured in the strike. Multiple outlets published images of her appearing bloodied. Yet video footage taken shortly afterward shows Bayan, in the same clothes, laughing and smiling. The footage raises serious questions about both the timeline of the alleged injuries and the media’s failure to verify dramatic visuals before publication.
- NPR added another layer, tying the strike to the broader humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza and describing scenes of desperation and starvation. That narrative, too, deserves scrutiny. Al-Baqa, located in the very region said to be facing famine, was not only operating on June 30 but also serving food and drinks to patrons. Photos and videos from the area reveal other similarly active cafes and shops, casting further doubt on the picture painted by the press.
So what are we left with?
A cafe said to be in a starving war zone, but bustling with customers. A journalist supposedly injured in a deadly blast, laughing minutes later. A death toll provided by a Hamas-linked hospital chief with a history of unverifiable claims. And media headlines that include all of the above.
The full truth may be complex, but it certainly isn’t the one presented by much of the international press. Whether or not civilians were tragically caught in the strike, the media’s rush to blame Israel, echo Hamas narratives, and ignore inconvenient facts has once again undermined honest journalism.
We’ll let readers draw their own conclusions. But when the scene of a so-called humanitarian disaster is a lively beachfront cafe, and “injured victims” are smiling on camera shortly afterward, it’s clear some elements of the story just don’t add up.
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 Really Happened at Gaza’s Al-Baqa Cafe? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Data: Nearly 90 Percent of Gaza Aid ‘Intercepted’ Before Reaching Intended Recipients
Palestinians collect aid supplies from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
The vast majority of humanitarian aid entering Gaza is intercepted before reaching its intended civilian recipients, newly released data from the United Nations shows, fueling growing concerns among Israeli officials and international observers about systemic aid diversion by armed groups in the enclave.
According to figures tracking humanitarian assistance for Gaza from May 19 to Aug. 1 of this year, out of the 2,010 UN trucks (carrying 27,434 tons of aid) collected from any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter, only 260 trucks (4,111 tons) reached their intended destination. That equates to a staggering 87 percent of all trucks and 85 percent of all tonnage of aid being stolen and not getting into the hands of civilians at the intended destination.
The UN’s own data, posted on the website of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as part of the “UN2720 Monitoring & Tracking Dashboard,” reveals that almost all the aid — 1,753 trucks (23,353 tons) — has been “intercepted, either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors” while being transported inside Gaza over the past few months.
No breakdown is provided of how much aid has been seized by armed groups versus civilians.
The data also shows that much of the UN aid offloaded at any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter has not been collected to enter the war-torn enclave during this period. Out of 40,012 tons of aid (2,134 trucks) being delivered to the crossings, just 27,434 tons (2010 trucks) have been picked up. It’s unclear what exactly led to this discrepancy, with issues such as poor internal coordination and security concerns potentially delaying aid shipments.
The UN2720 mechanism, created earlier this year, was intended to boost transparency by verifying and tracking aid shipments via QR codes at key checkpoints. The system monitors each pallet from offloading to delivery and flags any discrepancies in a centralized database.
Israel has facilitated the entry of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza, with Israeli officials condemning the UN and other international aid agencies for their alleged failure to distribute supplies, noting much of the humanitarian assistance has been stalled at border crossings or stolen by the ruling Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Sunday, Israel announced a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors as Arab and European countries began airdropping supplies into the enclave.
However, the UN and several Western governments have increased pressure on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, blaming the Jewish state for what they described as a hunger crisis and insufficient amounts of aid reaching civilians.
Israeli officials have said that claims of mass starvation in Gaza are false and being amplified by not only Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, but also international humanitarian organizations and media organizations to manipulate global opinion.
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Dutch Nurse Under Police Investigation for Alleged Threats Against Israeli Patients
Pro-Hamas demonstrators march in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. Photo: Reuters/Romy Arroyo Fernandez
A Muslim nurse in the Netherlands is under police investigation after allegedly threatening to administer lethal injections to Israeli patients — an incident that has sparked public outrage and intensified fears over rising antisemitism and patient safety in Europe’s health-care systems.
The comments were widely circulated by Israeli influencer Max Veifer, who also exposed a recent case in Australia where two nurses were suspended for two years over antisemitic threats and remarks.
In a video shared on social media, Veifer denounced Dutch-Muslim nurse Batisma Chayat Sa’id’s remarks as a serious violation of medical ethics.
“Someone like that should be prosecuted and barred from treating patients. Imagine your grandparents being cared for by someone so hateful,” the Israeli influencer said.
Zorgwekkende dreiging op Instagram: Nederlandse verpleegkundige is bereid om “zionisten een extra spuitje te geven” en bereid “zionisten te laten sterven binnen de gezondheidszorg.” pic.twitter.com/xTnXNi1wH5
— CIDI
(@CIDI_nieuws) July 29, 2025
The incident was sparked when an Israeli-Dutch woman living in the Netherlands commented on a social media post by far-right politician Geert Wilders, who cautioned about what he called the country’s looming radical Islamization by 2050.
A social media account belonging to the Muslim nurse also commented on the post, claiming it would happen by 2027, to which the Israeli woman responded, “Your dream is our nightmare. But people wake up from nightmares. Our Netherlands, our Israel.”
“Nothing belongs to you! My grandparents built the Netherlands. I was born and raised here, and I will do everything in my power to help this country get rid of the Zionist cancer,” the nurse further replied.
“You know what I’m doing with Zionists — giving an extra injection as a nurse specialist. Letting them go to heaven!” Sa’id continued.
When the Israeli woman threatened to report her, Sa’id replied: “Haha, try your best! I don’t have a boss — I’m the boss! All Zionists can die, inside healthcare and beyond, and I’m happy to help with that!”
Shortly after her posts gained widespread attention, Sa’id deleted all her social media accounts, insisting that her identity had been stolen and that she was not responsible for such comments.
On Wednesday, local police detained Sa’id for questioning, but she denied the allegations, asserting that someone had impersonated her online.
“It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” the nurse said. “I want to make it clear — I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”
Even after announcing plans to file an identity theft complaint, she faces skepticism from authorities, who have assigned a digital forensics expert to scrutinize her online accounts.
Last year, an account under her name also posted threatening messages aimed at Jewish people, including “Your time will come — don’t spare anyone,” and another in which she described the burial of Israelis in Gaza as “a dream come true.”
Earlier this year, two Australian nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — gained international attention after they were seen in an online video posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements during a night-shift conversation with Veifer.
The widely circulated footage, which sparked international outrage and condemnation, showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.
Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide.
They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, they face up to 22 years in prison.
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French Authorities Halt Gaza Evacuations After Palestinian Student Expelled Over Viral Antisemitic Posts
Anti-Israel demonstration supporting the BDS movement, Paris France, June 8, 2024. Photo: Claire Serie / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
French authorities have halted evacuations from Gaza after a Palestinian student was expelled from the prestigious Sciences Po Lille and placed under investigation, following the viral circulation of hundreds of antisemitic posts praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and calling for the murder of Jews.
The incident drew widespread condemnation and public outrage, prompting French ministers to demand answers and call for an investigation into how the Gazan student was allowed into the country in the first place.
On Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that all further evacuations from Gaza would be suspended pending the completion of the investigation into the student’s background.
After receiving a scholarship, 25-year-old Nour Atalla, a Palestinian from Gaza, arrived in the country in early July to begin her master’s degree in law and communications this fall at the Institute of Political Science in Lille, northern France.
Barrot confirmed that discussions are ongoing about the student’s possible return to Gaza, making clear that she must leave the country pending the investigation’s outcome.
“She has no place at Sciences Po, nor in France,” the top French diplomat said.
On Thursday, local authorities reported that a criminal investigation is underway into Atalla, with the public prosecutor in Lille confirming the case was opened for “apology of terrorism, apology of crimes against humanity using an online public communication service.”
Barrot admitted lapses in the screening process that allowed her entry and has mandated a comprehensive review of everyone evacuated from Gaza to France.
“The security checks, carried out by the French services and Israeli authorities, did not detect the antisemitic content,” the French diplomat said.
Atalla is one of 292 Gazans admitted to the country following a court ruling that opened the door for Gazans to seek refugee status based on their nationality.
She was offered a place at Sciences Po Lille University based on “academic excellence” and following a recommendation by the French consulate in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, the university announced it had revoked Atalla’s enrollment after hundreds of her past antisemitic and violent social media posts went viral, sparking widespread condemnation from political leaders and members of the local Jewish community.
In several of these posts, she glorified Hitler, praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, called for the execution of Israeli hostages and the killing of Jews, and expressed support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
In one post, Atalla shared a video of Hitler giving a speech about Jews, writing, “Kill their young and their old. Show them no mercy … And kill them everywhere.”
In another post shared on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, she wrote, “We must do everything we can to match the bloodshed — as much as possible.”