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Who Verifies NPR’s Reporting on the Hamas War?
Israeli soldiers inspect the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Gaza City, Nov. 15, 2023 in this handout image. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Several weeks ago, CAMERA demonstrated how NPR was running interference for Palestinian terrorists, using the example of a deadly explosion near northern Gaza’s Al Ahli hospital.
Despite the clear evidence that Israel provided, implicating a misfired missile by Palestinian Islamic Jihad for that blast, NPR journalists refused to unequivocally discount Hamas’ accusations of Israeli responsibility. Instead, they seemed intent on trying to discredit Israel’s version: they gave equal weight to Israel’s evidence and the unsupported proclamation of the Hamas terrorist regime. They obscured Hamas’ authority over many of their cited sources and presented Hamas statistics unquestioningly, despite the terrorist regime’s long track record of lying about casualties and its directives to call all casualties, even of combatants, “innocent civilians.” They ignored independent corroboration of Israel’s claims by multiple intelligence offices in Europe and North America in favor of uncertain allegations casting doubt on Israel’s account by non-expert, anti-Israel activists, while not disclosing their partisan affiliations.
NPR journalists themselves pretentiously repeat on broadcast after broadcast, “NPR cannot independently verify” Israel’s claims.
This has become an NPR refrain when it comes to Israeli claims and the evidence that supports them. For example:
“We don’t have independent verification of that [that there is some kind of command center in the tunnels underneath Al-Shifa Hospital.] That is the Israeli claim.” (Steve Inskeep, Morning Edition, Nov. 13) [emphasis added]
“We can’t independently confirm these details [of a Hamas command-and-control center, suicide bomb vests, grenades, AK-47 assault rifles, explosive devices, RPGs and other weapons that IDF Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari shows in a video taken from the basement the hospital.] And Hamas is saying they didn’t operate there, that this is not real.” (Greg Myre, Morning Edition, Nov. 14) [emphasis added]
“This is an Israeli military spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, giving a video tour of guns, grenades, uniforms he says Israeli troops found. Now, NPR can’t independently verify this.” (Lauren Freyer, Morning Edition, Nov. 16) [emphasis added]
“Israel, meanwhile, has released a bunch of videos it says prove that Hamas not only operated out of tunnels under the hospital but that it brought at least three hostages into the hospital and, in fact, killed one of them there. They showed us hospital security camera footage and video recorded apparently by a robot that went into those tunnels. NPR hasn’t been able to independently verify any of that footage, though.” (Lauren Frayer, Morning Edition, Nov. 20) [emphasis added]
No such qualifications are appended to Hamas claims that come without any evidence at all. On the contrary, NPR reporters present those claims as authoritative, referring to “health officials” or Palestinian “health ministry” without mentioning that they are subservient to the Hamas terrorist regime that has a history of lying about statistics and turning everything into an opportunity to demonize Israel.
For example:
“Health officials in Gaza say five weeks of Israeli airstrikes and the war have killed more than 11,000 people and wounded another 27,000, most of whom are women and children.” (Aya Batrawy, Weekend Edition, Nov. 11) [emphasis added]
“The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says that of more than 11,000 people killed in this war already, including more than 4,500 children, at least 40% of these deaths were from airstrikes in the south, where people have been forced to flee.” (Aya Batrawy, Morning Edition, Nov. 13) [emphasis added]
“But its [Israel’s] offensive has killed more than 11,400 people, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza. (Aya Batrawy, All Things Considered, Nov. 16) [emphasis added]
“Israeli bombardment has killed thousands of civilians in the areas of the Gaza Strip that Israel has ordered them to move to, Gaza health ministry death tolls show.” (“Israel told Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza — and stepped up attacks there,” Ruth Sherlock, Dan Woods, Abu Baker Bashir, NPR.org, Nov. 18) [emphasis added]
Such overt double standards in reporting — where filmed evidence is discounted as unverifiable only when it comes from Israel and uncorroborated claims and statistics attributed to the “Gaza health ministry” are treated as authoritative — raise the obvious question of whether anyone can really trust or verify NPR’s credibility.
It’s worth remembering next time NPR solicits donations from the public.
Ricki Hollander is a senior analyst at CAMERA, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Who Verifies NPR’s Reporting on the Hamas War? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.”
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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.
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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.