Winter is on its way, including in the Middle East. But when a late fall storm made landfall over Israel and Gaza, two CBC articles, on December 11 and December 12, blamed Gaza’s suffering entirely on Israel. At the same time, they absolved Hamas of any responsibility for the crisis.

Both articles erased Hamas ceasefire violations through passive language and omission. The articles mentionedthat a ceasefire has “broadly” or “largely” held since October. Then, they condemned Israeli military action since the ceasefire, suggesting that Israel was perhaps shelling civilians for no reason.

That’s false. Hamas and other terror operatives have been attacking Israeli forces throughout the ceasefire, including terror tunnel ambushes. These are clear ceasefire violations that demand a military response. Yet the CBC failed to mention any of this.

CBC also left out that Hamas is still holding the body of an Israeli hostage that was supposed to have been returned months ago under the ceasefire. By using passive language and reporting only Israeli aggression, CBC erased Hamas’s culpability.

Sickeningly, CBC also treated Hamas as a credible authority—rather than the true cause of the crisis. Both articles referred to Hamas-run institutions as legitimate civic actors: “the media office of the Hamas-run Gaza government,” “Hamas-led authorities,” and “Palestinian health authorities.”

There are too many reasons to count why Hamas isn’t a legitimate government or source of claims. But the main reason is that it clearly doesn’t care about Gaza’s citizens. Over nearly twenty years, it diverted funds it could have used for schools, housing, and infrastructure toward terror tunnels and a deadly arsenal of rockets and missiles. And its leaders have said over and over that they’d do the same today.

Hamas certainly lost the right to be considered an “authority” when it invaded Israel on October 7, 2023. Its operatives killed, burned, raped, and maimed thousands and dragged innocent men, women, and children back to Gaza. Later, it starved those hostages, murdered them in cold blood, and used their bodies as a bargaining chip to spring convicted murderers from Israeli prisons.

Yet CBC excused all these atrocities by taking Hamas seriously. One article quoted a Hamas “government media office” spokesperson as saying: “We hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for exposing displaced families to climate hazards.” The other included a brief Israeli claim that “it is meeting its obligations and accuses agencies of inefficiency and failing to prevent theft by Hamas”—then added, “which the group [Hamas] denies.”

Just because Hamas says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. Here’s the truth CBC left out:

• Hamas initiated the war that displaced its own civilians,
• Hamas embeds fighters among civilian shelters,
• Hamas continues to violate the ceasefire even while appealing to its terms to accuse Israel.

In contrast to Hamas statements, which were taken at face value, whenever Israel offered transparency and hard data, the articles cast doubt almost as a knee-jerk reaction.

For example, Israel’s COGAT agency tweeted on December 9 (with video footage) that it had allowed nearly 270,000 tents and tarpaulins into Gaza and over 1,500 trucks of blankets and warm clothing. Yet the CBC article felt the need to add, “without evidence.”

What kind of “evidence” would have been enough for CBC if video footage wasn’t enough? Maybe a nod or a rubber stamp from a Hamas official—obviously not forthcoming any time soon.

Meanwhile, the same article that dismissed COGAT’s evidence also claimed, without evidence, that “aid agencies say Israel is blocking essential items.”

This asymmetry trains readers to distrust Israeli statements while unquestioningly accepting claims from organizations with a record of deception, aid diversion, and ceasefire violations.

Compassionate coverage doesn’t excuse biased and distorted reporting. By hiding Hamas violence and ceasefire violations, respecting Hamas “authority,” and applying unequal scrutiny to both sides, CBC continues to transform the situation in Israel and Gaza into a simplistic morality play completely devoid of context, clarity, and accountability.