On countless occasions throughout the last three years, when a “humanitarian” group, author or other public figure released a report leveling accusations against Israel, it merited coverage, often entirely uncritical, from many corners of the Canadian news media.

And yet, when studies debunk claims of genocide or famine in Gaza, or expose Islamic radicalism in the country, they are routinely ignored.

In recent days, a series of scandalous acknowledgements were made by Motaz Azaiza, a celebrated Gaza-born photographer now living in Qatar who has been praised by entertainer Ms. Rachel, and has met New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He was also listed by Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2024 as “the world’s eyes and ears in his native Gaza.”

As first reported in The New York Post, Azaiza – who has been accused of repeatedly glorifying Palestinian terrorism – was recently a guest on the Arabic-language Taqarrab podcast, where he said that “every journalist in Gaza” was on a Hamas-run WhatsApp group that oversees what gets reported from the territory.

Azaiza was present when, during the October 7, 2023 massacres, Israeli hostages – dead and alive – were paraded back into Gaza, where crowds of ‘civilians’ began to abuse them.

As Azaiza admitted, he filmed the footage: “people got out, watched, beat them (hostages), and I followed them and filmed. But I did not publish those videos,” he said, because he did not want Israel to “identify” the perpetrators and thus “ruin the lives of the people who were filmed.”

Elsewhere in his interview, Azaiza told his interviewer that in cases when a Gazan condemned Hamas for bringing war to the coastal territory, “photographers in Gaza have become accustomed to lowering their cameras the moment” someone begins criticizing Hamas because “anyone who dares to show reality is persecuted relentlessly.”

Incredibly, there appears to have been virtually no coverage of Azaiza’s interview in the Canadian mainstream media, despite the enormous significance of his revelations, and what it means about the veracity of the coverage that Canadians have been getting from Gaza.

How many millions of Canadians have consumed images, videos and reports from Gaza that were filtered through the Hamas-run WhatsApp group that the terrorist groups apparently uses to help keep tabs on what leaves the enclave? How many Canadians are getting a picture from Gaza that is not only skewed, but censored to make sure that it conforms with the whims and desires of an openly genocidal Palestinian terrorist group?

Even before Azaiza’s admissions, there have already been serious questions about the sources of our news coverage coming from Gaza.

HonestReporting Canada has previously documented the case of Mohamed El Saife, who despite posting anti-Israel propaganda to social media, continues to work for CBC, Canada’s taxpayer-funded public broadcaster, as its videographer on the ground in Gaza.

These are not minor or incidental revelations from Motaz Azaiza; they go directly to the credibility of the information reaching Canadian audiences from Gaza, and Canadian news outlets have a responsibility to report them.

Instead, the same media organizations that routinely amplify allegations against Israel have overwhelmingly remained silent when a prominent Gazan journalist admits to concealing evidence and describes Hamas’ oversight of what information leaves Gaza.