On January 19, Global News aired a segment entitled “Humanitarian efforts resume on the Gaza Strip.” In the segment, Sam Rose, an official with UNRWA, the disgraced United Nations agency with ties to Hamas and whose staff took part in the October 7 massacres of 1,200 Israelis and hostage taking of 250 innocents, was interviewed about the situation in the coastal strip.

Leaving aside the over-focus on the traumatic effects the war has had only on the Gazan population—as if to suggest that Israelis have suffered no ill effects from watching their loved ones butchered in sadistic ways while their attackers smiled and cheered—the focus of the segment was on the destruction in Gaza and the challenges in rebuilding.

When asked about what it will take for displaced Gazans to rebuild, Rose provided an explanation that not only warps reality but ensures that those with only a basic understanding of the conflict blame Israel entirely.

To begin, Rose claimed that “most buildings [in Gaza] have been destroyed.” While estimates on the levels of destruction vary, his next statement was the real kicker: “before any [rebuilding] can happen… proper ordinance checks need to be done on hundreds of thousands of homes that have been subject to munitions and subject to artillery over the past 18 months.”

This ought to raise several key questions, none of which were taken up in the report.

First, why were “hundreds of thousands” of homes in Gaza destroyed?

Perhaps it is because Hamas, a listed terror organization, has been using civilian homes as terror bases and weapons storage facilities. Perhaps it is due to the hundreds of kilometers of tunnels that zig-zag across the strip, with entrances in and out of UNRWA’s own schools, hospitals, and other civilian buildings.

The deliberate embedding of terror infrastructure in civilian areas is not an accident. Hamas has turned entire neighbourhoods into launch sites for rockets, command centers, and weapons caches. The destruction we see is not merely the result of Israeli airstrikes—it is a direct consequence of Hamas’ cynical and inhumane strategy of using its own people as human shields.

Second, one might wonder what “subject to munitions and artillery” actually means?

Rose’s phrasing was intentionally vague. He avoided stating the obvious: Hamas is actively firing from these homes, Hamas is storing weapons in these buildings, and Hamas is transforming civilian areas into improvised pillboxes.

Israel has no strategic interest in targeting civilian homes unless they are being used for military purposes. The blame for this destruction lies squarely with Hamas, which has chosen to embed its infrastructure, fighting and weaponry among civilians—a documented violation of international law.

Finally, Rose mentioned that “before any [rebuilding] can happen… the borders need to open.” This, again, is a strategic misrepresentation. Israel has always facilitated humanitarian aid into Gaza—even at the cost of Israeli lives, as seen in multiple attacks on aid convoys. Hamas has repeatedly stolen aid, hoarding fuel, food, and medicine meant for civilians. The “border opening” in the way Mr. Rose describes it is a euphemism for unrestricted access, something Hamas would quickly exploit to rebuild its military capability.

There is a clear pattern here. At no point did Rose acknowledge why Gaza is in ruins. Nowhere did he mention the real cause of this destruction—Hamas’ unwillingness to accept peace, refusal to protect its own people, and its fanatical commitment to its genocidal war against Israel. And worse, at no point was he pressed on these points.

This war was not inevitable. Hamas could have chosen peace. It could have governed Gaza responsibly. Instead, it launched the October 7 massacre, murdering 1,200 Israelis – including babies – burning whole families alive, raping women, and slaughtering families in their homes.

The scale of destruction in Gaza is a direct result of Hamas’ decision to wage total war—not just against Israel, but against its own people. It hides its weapons behind civilians, fires rockets from schools, and dares Israel to respond—knowing that every Gazan life lost is a propaganda victory. Propaganda that, apparently, our media outlets are only too happy to proliferate.

As Hamas’ own founding charter states, its mission is not just to fight Israel, but to eradicate Jews entirely. Article 7 explicitly states that even the “stones and trees” will call out for Jews to be killed. This isn’t rhetoric—it’s their guiding ideology.The real tragedy is that figures like Sam Rose are given a platform to spread these half-truths and distortions without any challenge. When outlets like Global News amplify these distortions, they become complicit in Hamas’ disinformation strategy. It is crucial to challenge these narratives and ensure that the real story is told—one where Israel is forced to defend itself against an enemy that does not value life, not even its own.