A recent news report from CityNews gave extended coverage to official Hamas talking points, all while failing to provide attribution or even basic context for viewers.
In the July 14 broadcast, journalist Karling Donoghue reported on a recent Israeli strike targeting Mohammed Dief, the leader of Hamas’ military wing who is seen as the mastermind behind the terrorist group’s October 7 massacres in southern Israel, and who is most-wanted man in Israel’s crosshairs.
Telling viewers that “more than 90 people were killed in an Israeli air strike” targeting Dief, Donoghue was simply repeating Hamas’ unsubstantiated claims, failing to report that the casualty number comes from Hamas, that it does not break down how many of those killed were Hamas combatants, and that the figure cannot be verified.
Hamas’ Lies Cannot Be Presented As Fact
By failing to include any of this critical information, CityNews effectively converted Hamas propaganda into unassailable truth.
While Donoghue did briefly acknowledge that Israel said it was striking Hamas’ leader, it was followed by showing a clip from a Hamas press conference and multiple Palestinians. In fact, the only Israelis who were actually shown during the entire report were those protesting the war, including one man who said, “I don’t have a military perspective on how important or essential the airstrike was,” raising questions as to what relevance beyond tokenization there was in showing him.
In an example of utterly missing the forest for the trees, in the CityNews report, Donoghue said that “The Palestinian Red Crescent Society says the strike took place in a designated humanitarian zone in the strip, adding that children are among the dead.”
Hamas Uses Civilians As Human Shields
This humanitarian zone was designated by Israel in an attempt to minimize civilian casualties so that they could be in a place where there was no active fighting, but what went unsaid is that Deif, an arch-terrorist with the blood of thousands of people on his hands, by being present in that zone, converted a ‘humanitarian’ area into a legitimate military target, just as Hamas terrorists do by using Gazans as their human shields. But Donoghue did not ask what Hamas’ military leader was doing in a so-called humanitarian zone, instead letting Israel be the target.
Donoghue’s report was a relentless barrage of Hamas propaganda masquerading as factual updates, including when she said that “The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 10 civilians were killed in an Israeli strike on a prayer hall at a beach camp used to house displaced individuals.”
The “Gaza Health Ministry” Is Hamas
In addition to failing to share that the “Health Ministry” is a branch of Hamas whose figures are unsubstantiated and do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, Donoghue offered no details for viewers as to why Israel would randomly strike a prayer hall at a beach camp, and did not bother to offer any response from Israeli officials, nor even basic background as to how Hamas fighters use civilian areas for their operations.
After more than nine months into the Hamas-provoked war, it is unconscionable that some news outlets continue to uncritically parrot unfiltered Hamas propaganda, all while refusing to even tell the public what they are being given. Instead of even pretending to provide any semblance of balance, CityNews’ report gave only the tiniest acknowledgement to Israel’s position, all while giving a barrage of Hamas disinformation to overwhelmingly drown it out.
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