Sara Jabakhanji, a senior writer with the CBC, has made no secret of her anti-Israel views. In May 2021, she signed an open letter which was one-sided in its concern for only Palestinian casualties and, among other things, believed Israel’s anti-terror activities in Gaza were “indiscriminate.”

Yet incredibly, she has been tasked with covering the Hamas-Israel war. Unsurprisingly, her article on September 18 entitled: “Gaza man’s ‘soul returned to life’ upon getting new prosthetic leg”, is far from synchronized with CBC’s supposed journalistic standards of balanced reporting.

Reporting on those who have lost limbs in Gaza since Hamas’ massacres of October 7, she detailed their suffering and the efforts of a medical team from the Jordanian Field Hospital in Gaza to provide prosthetic limbs for them and others in similar conditions.

The human suffering of those who have horrifically lost limbs in Gaza during the war rightly arouses our compassion. Using their suffering to paint a picture of Israel as a wanton aggressor is factually incorrect. Jabakhanji, however, did just that.

Jabakhanji tokenly acknowledged how the war started, writing, “The war began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed 1,200 people and saw 250 hostages taken into Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s responding incursion into the strip has killed over 41,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.”

This is not a “tit-for-tat” war. Neither is it a numbers game, as Jabakhanji implies. Israel is fighting for its survival against a genocidal enemy, Hamas.

Jabakhanji erased the fact that the Gaza Health Ministry is run by Hamas terrorists and is therefore not to be relied upon, she ignored that their figures include combatants, and seemingly feigned ignorance of Hamas’s cruel strategy of using human shields.

Hamas’s longstanding, cruel and yet documented strategy of using the most densely populated civilian areas to hide their weaponry and command centers, and – most importantly – to directly fight from, is well known. Their cruelty to anyone who disagrees with them and their media control is likewise public knowledge. They have not built bomb shelters in Gaza: Hamas does not value the lives of its electorate.

Yet Jabakhanji tacitly blamed Israel for Gazan’s suffering, writing, “Currently, only 17 of 36 hospitals remain partially functional in Gaza, according to WHO. Gaza’s only limb reconstruction and rehabilitation center, in the Nasser Medical Complex, became non-operational in December due to a ‘lack of supplies and specialized health workers being forced to leave in search of safety,’ the organization said. Tragically, much of the rehabilitation workforce in Gaza is now displaced,” WHO said, adding that the number of people with injuries requiring assistive products far exceeds the equipment available within Gaza.”

Israel goes to unprecedented lengths to minimize civilian casualties. They leaflet the area, send text messages, call civilians and ask them to evacuate, and more. And yet it is a war. And in a war, there are tragic casualties. Ultimately, Hamas bears responsibility, just as Nazi Germany bore consequences for the destruction it launched.

Israel also works tirelessly to provide humanitarian aid to Gazans. Israel has a department that meets daily with the humanitarian organizations to coordinate aid into Gaza. Among other things, they have allowed in over a million tonnes of aid since the war began. Israel allows for daily tactical pauses from 10 am to 2 pm for civilians to replenish necessities and has repaired Gazan water pipelines despite having to work in an active combat zone.

Yet, reading Jabakhanji’s article, one is given the distinct impression that Israel is targeting Gazan civilians as a disproportionate revenge tactic. Nothing could be further from the truth. Israel is fighting for its existence against an inhumane enemy and is dedicated to minimizing civilian harm. Jabakhanji’s perspective is skewed and has left any semblance of balanced reporting far behind.