In a May 30 CBC News broadcast, journalist Yasmine Hassan presented Gaza’s supposed medical crisis as a story of Israeli restriction while omitting the aid and medical coordination Israel is actively facilitating. She also left out the true reason for the humanitarian emergency: the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas which has weaponized Gaza’s medical sector, siphoning off essential supplies and operating from medical facilities.
Listen to the full segment below:
Hassan built the segment entirely around Palestinian patients and doctors working within Gaza. Those voices described hardship, but every quote pointed viewers to one conclusion: Israel must let more aid and medical supplies into Gaza.
A spokesperson from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said not enough medical aid was entering. Hassan added that MSF was “demanding Israel allow more aid in, including medical supplies.”
This framing leaves viewers with the false impression that Israel is blocking medical relief. In fact, Israel places no limit on humanitarian medical supplies like antibiotics, surgical equipment, and essential medicines.
Israel does screen supplies entering Gaza through COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories). That’s because weapons, dual-use materials, and other goods can turn humanitarian aid routes into supply lines that fuel terrorism.
For example, on June 2, COGAT inspectors discovered hundreds of tobacco pouches inside boxes of wheelchairs entering Gaza. Tobacco is a high-value currency in Gaza’s underground economy, used to pay terrorist operatives, buy weapons, and reinforce control over civilians.
One of COGAT’s main roles in Gaza is facilitating aid delivery. Its latest figures show 600 aid trucks entering daily. That includes 16,500 tons of medical supplies since the October 2025 ceasefire.
To provide a clearer picture of the actual situation, Hassan could have spoken to a COGAT representative. She could also have included readily available statistics about the flow of medical supplies to Gaza. She did not.
The root cause of Gaza’s supposed medical crisis was also absent from Hassan’s report. Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering a war. It continues to hide within Gaza’s civilian population, including in hospitals, schools, and mosques as part of its human shield war strategy. And since the ceasefire began, Hamas has reasserted control, cracking down on rivals and rebuilding its militia instead of disarming. This makes it an active threat to Israeli soldiers and civilians.
That context is essential. Hamas has literally turned Gaza’s civilian infrastructure into part of the battlefield. By leaving out Hamas, Hassan’s report made the crisis look like the result of wanton Israeli aggression, rather than the consequence of a war that Hamas started and continues to sustain.
Hassan has repeatedly produced what we consider highly skewed coverage of Gaza and the Hamas-Israel war. HonestReporting Canada has documented her pattern of foregrounding Palestinian suffering, uncritically quoting anti-Israel NGOs, minimizing Hamas responsibility, and excluding Israeli security context that would have helped viewers understand the story.
Any coverage of Gaza’s medical challenges should leave viewers better informed. Why is the system under strain? Who is exploiting it? What aid is actually entering? Hassan’s viewers didn’t get answers to any of these questions. Instead, her report followed a familiar CBC News formula: show Palestinian suffering, point at Israel, and leave Hamas out of the picture.
