Still, the media continues to parrot Hamas data uncritically, which means journalists also accept that the Israel Defense Forces is the most incompetent military in history, having failed to kill a single enemy combatant. Israel says it has killed about 20,000 terrorists, so reporters know with absolute certainty the dead are not all innocent women and children, as Hamas would like us to believe. Instead of reporting this, we get the now-formulaic language that the figures they are citing do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Meanwhile, they ignore that the ratio of noncombatant casualties to combatants is remarkably low by historical standards, putting the lie to the argument that Israel’s actions are disproportionate.

Media outlets have also repeatedly quoted NGOs saying there is a famine in Gaza, and people are starving. It’s been a recurring theme almost from the outset of the fighting. The New York Times published a typically hyperbolic story on June 7 about emaciated children. The accompanying photo, however, showed children who were not gaunt and waiting for food. To illustrate the absurdity of the story and the broader allegation, the Times’ photo can be compared with the cover of Life magazine on July 12, 1968, which documents an actual famine among the children of Biafra, a secessionist state in West Africa that existed from 1967 to 1970 after declaring independence from Nigeria.

The media frequently reports on the destruction of hospitals in Gaza, usually expressing skepticism about their use by the Hamas terror organization, even when given tours of the command centers. This was the case when a New York Times reporter was taken to see a tunnel under the emergency department of the European Gaza Hospital. The hospital director, like those at other hospitals used by Hamas, gave the usual denial that he was aware of any tunnels. Rather than focus on how Hamas put civilians at risk and made the hospital a legitimate military target, the reporters sought out sources that would fit their preferred narrative that this was a violation of international law.

The subhead of the article illustrated the Times’ unwillingness to accept the evidence put before it, explaining, “To Israelis, the location of an underground passageway highlights Hamas’s abuse of civilians. To Palestinians, Israel’s decision to target it highlights Israel’s own disregard for civilian life.” This framing intentionally neutralizes Hamas’s culpability and presents Israel’s response to a legitimate military target as a matter of opinion, not a necessity of war.

Babies born

Contrary to the image of a population being systematically erased, demographic data shows that the number of Palestinian Arabs there may be growing. This also contradicts the famine narrative. According to Save the Children, approximately 50,000 babies were born in Gaza between Oct. 7, 2023, and July 8, 2024. In all likelihood, another 50,000 have been born in the year since then. Instead of the population disappearing, this would mean that it has increased.