RANT: READ THE FINE PRINT, PEOPLE!

 

 

HERE'S SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: Read the following news item from BBC World News:

 

“The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 57,500 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times. More than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.” (BBC, July 8, 2025)

 

SO? News is news. Right? Well, not entirely. 

 

IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH, BBC notes that 1200 “people” were killed by Hamas militants on October 7. The total number of Israelis killed may be slightly lower, around 1100, but it should be noted that 373 “people” were Israeli Defence Force members. Hamas fighters engaged with IDF troops stationed in kibbutzim and military posts adjacent to the eastern border fence with Gaza where the Palestinian breakout occurred. That civilians were shot and killed by Hamas fighters, I have no doubt. How many is unclear. What is clear is that one of the main objectives in the Hamas attacks was to take hostages back to Gaza and use as leverage in future negotiations. 

Not all the dead were civilians, then. In addition, there are reports claiming scores, if not hundreds, were killed by IDF “friendly fire” authorized under the so-called “Hannibal Directive”, to prevent Israelis from becoming hostages. Finally, there is speculation that October 7 was allowed to happen, that Israel had forewarning of the Hamas operation but let it occur to have an excuse to launch a major operation into Gaza. In the fog of war, we can only grope for answers by familiarizing ourselves with a variety of sources in the hope that at some future time clearer answers will emerge. But some backstory and alternative views add ‘colour’ to what’s written and argued as the black and white final say in such matters.

 

THE SECOND PARAGRAPH SAYS: “More than 57,500 people have been killed in Gaza…”  Ignoring, for now, the low-ball estimate from the Gaza Health Ministry (with some studies suggesting twice that number), note the passive voice in the report: “have been” killed…. By what? A tsunami? Bigfoot? It just sort of happened? No. They were killed by Israeli bombardments, gun, and tank fire. Nearly two-thirds of the victims were children up to the age of eighteen and women, both of which are unlikely candidates for Hamas militia membership. Hence they are non-combatants and the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza cannot be excused by IDF claims they are "collateral damage". It's clear (or should be) that civilians are fired on deliberately by Israeli soldiers. It’s that kind of neutered, washed-out reporting on the part of the BBC that makes everything seem ‘equal’ and differences disappear, so that we can call what’s going on in Gaza a “war” between Hamas and Israel, instead of what it really is—something more akin to shooting ducks in a barrel. The military strength between Hamas and Israel is not comparable. Israel has one of the largest and best equipped militaries in the world, certainly in terms of weaponry and its air force. Hamas has small arms for the most part, grenade-launchers, etc., and crude missiles it launches periodically into Israel. It’s called a war, but a slaughter is a better description with Israel's main target being the Palestinian civilian population. The IDF claims it only targets Hamas fighters, but the world sees the truth. How many dead children does it take to put paid to the lie around this  unconscionable practice?

 

THE THIRD PARAGRAPH is similar in depicting the destruction of Gazan homes and critical infrastructure passively as “damaged or destroyed” without saying who's done the destroying. The article gives the impression of two armies waging wars across the territory causing destruction in their wake, with each side equally to blame. There is no weighing of responsibility or blame here. In reality, all the destruction of Gazan infrastructure has been caused by Israeli bombs and missiles. Such subtle reporting bias draws our attention away from the actors by only reporting on the actions in the conflict, as if some force of nature caused the water treatment plant to explode or the hospital to collapse. It suggests bad shit just happens. What can you do?

The BBC article says Gazan infrastructure has “collapsed”. But, what caused the collapse? Too much toilet paper in the pipes? No. Israeli bombs have made Gaza uninhabitable by deliberately and systematically destroying the enclave’s infrastructure [Hospitals, schools, mosques, public buildings, stores, businesses, water and sewage facilities, thermal electricity plants, gardens, orchards,  you name it--even graveyards.] BTW, attacking a civilian population in such a manner is a war crime under international law. It's a form of “collective punishment” and illegal under the Geneva Convention. 

 

👉BUT I THINK the most disingenuous sentence is the final one: "...there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.” Again without saying why. The first three are due to Israel’s blockade, begun in March, which stops all but a trickle of food and humanitarian aid from entering. It doesn’t say that Israel is using hunger as a weapon to corral and control 2.1 million Gazans. Thus: starving babies, war crimes--you know the drill. And the reason there is no shelter in Gaza is because Israel has bombed the place back to the Stone Age, turning the majority of Palestinians into refugees inside their own land. If I’m wrong, could someone please ‘spain to me what my own two lyin' eyes are seeing?😕  

 

👉If we don’t get reporting and analysis from a variety of sources, with varying viewpoints and details, how are we able to judge what’s true or at least ‘truth adjacent’ these days? Happy news gathering, all ye Truth Seekers!

 

Cheers, Jake. ____________________________________