In a pair of new reports, CBC News Producer Yasmine Hassan – whose reporting has often consisted of transforming anti-Israel grievances into ‘news,’ continues to produce in our eyes deeply misleading content for Canada’s taxpayer-funded broadcaster.
CBC’s Kite Coverage Buries the Threat to Israeli Civilians
In her August 25 article, “Netanyahu warns of ‘targeted strikes’ if Hamas doesn’t stop kites from flying toward Israel,” Hassan began by telling readers that “the Israeli government is threatening to increase “targeted strikes” on Gaza unless Hamas takes action to prevent kites used by Palestinians, including children, from flying toward Israel.”
To most observers, the thought that a kite flown by children would pose a threat seems absurd, a point repeatedly emphasized in her article, which quoted Gazans saying things such as “We fly kites so we can change our moods” and “there is nothing left in Gaza to make us happy.”
It was only in the 10th paragraph that Hassan acknowledged in passing that before October 7, 2023, “Israel said burning kites and balloons were sent from Gaza, causing fires and other damage.”
Even in this most briefest of mentions of the actual context relating to incendiary kites, Hassan could not avoid stating that Israel “said” burning kites were sent, when in reality, the fires caused by Gaza’s fire kites were widely-documented and required no attribution.
Virtually Hassan’s entire article was devoted to Palestinians condemning Israel, with almost no statements about the ongoing efforts by Palestinians to murder Israeli civilians, even going so far as to quote the terrorist group Hamas alleging a non-existent “genocide.”
Palestinian Claims Become Headlines, Hamas Leaders Become “Officials”
Days later, on September 1, Hassan was back with another article, “In search for senior Hamas operative, Israeli raid on Gaza City camp kills 3 children,” where she spread the claim from Palestinians that three children died amidst a counter-terrorism operation by Israel in Gaza. While this was an unproven allegation from Palestinians, this did not stop Hassan from presenting it as fact in the headline or in the first sentence.
CBC News’ ongoing failure to label Palestinian terrorists as such remained on full display, with Hassan referring to a Hamas leader not as a terrorist, but as an “official,” language that serves to significantly misrepresent the murderous nature of Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups.
Hassan returned to the theme of kites from Gaza, writing that “last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of ‘targeted strikes’ because children were flying kites that landed in Israeli territory.” She did not offer a single word about the history of incendiary kites that started fires in Israel.
Instead, Hassan – citing CBC freelance videographer and anti-Israel propagandist Mohamed El Saife – quoted a Palestinian man saying “have mercy on us. They’re children,” effectively replacing facts with emotional verbiage instead.
CBC Mislabels Total Reported Deaths as Civilian Casualties
Sure enough, the CBC News article by Yasmine Hassan was not complete without citing the so-called “Gaza Health Ministry” (run by Hamas, which she omitted), writing that it “notes that over 1,300 civilians have died since Oct. 11, when a U.S.-backed ceasefire took effect.”
First, it should be clarified that the so-called “Gaza Health Ministry” does not “note” civilian casualties as if it were a credible organization. Instead, it makes claims and it does not distinguish casualties between civilians and combatants.
Moreover, it is a complete falsehood that 1,300 civilians have died in Gaza over the last year. That assumes every single person who died is a civilian and ignores the scores of Palestinian terrorists who have been killed in counter-terrorism operations. Does Hassan consider these individuals – including the commander of a Hamas brigade – to be “civilians” too?
Subsequent to HRC sending a complaint to CBC, the following correction was issued on September 4:
“A previous version of this story said more than 1,300 civilians have died in the Gaza Strip since an October 2025 ceasefire took effect. In fact, Gaza’s Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, and the figure reflects the total deaths reported.”
CBC News Producer Yasmine Hassan could have educated readers on the ongoing efforts by Palestinian terrorists to weaponize Gaza and test Israeli reactions, and its history pre-October 7, 2023 of terrorism, including incendiary balloons and kites. Instead, she falsely framed Israel as a wanton aggressor, and Palestinians as victims.
