On October 26, Global News broadcast a report, where Special Correspondent Daniele Hamamdjian reported on the impact of Israeli air strikes within the Gaza Strip.

But rather than providing viewers with an unvarnished picture of events in Gaza, Hamamdjian made multiple unverified statements, presenting them as truth.

Near the beginning of her broadcast, Hamamdjian told viewers that “Israel says it doesn’t target civilians, but it is killing them by the thousands.”

There is no evidence that “thousands” of Gazan civilians have died in Israeli airstrikes. While Hamas has reported that roughly 7,000 people in total have died in the coastal enclave – itself an unverifiable number spread by a terrorist organization – Hamamdjian presented no evidence that “thousands” of innocent civilians were among them.

Simply repeating the claims of an Islamist terrorist organization at face value represent a significant failure in judgement, all the more so when no evidence is offered in support of the group’s assertion.

Hamamdjian continued her report by telling viewers that while Israel claims to have killed a number of Hamas terrorists, whom she called “militants,” she added that “The Israeli military believes the homes of Hamas militants are legitimate targets, even if civilians live alongside them.”

This statement is a significant misrepresentation of the modus operandi of both Israel and Hamas.

Israel has repeatedly shown, both during this latest war with Hamas, and in the past, that it takes extraordinary precautions in order to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties. Israel has employed “roof knocking” techniques to warn civilians in the past, and currently, it has strongly encouraged Gazans to evacuate northern Gaza in an attempt to find safety.

Hamas, conversely, does the exact opposite. Not only does it show a perverse desire to murder and main as many Israelis as possible, it shows virtually no respect for the lives of Palestinians, the people it purports to defend.

Hamas has long used its own civilians as human shields, purposefully embedding its fighters and weapon systems inside civilian buildings, firing rockets from densely populated civilian areas, repurposing foreign aid and using it to construct subterranean “terror tunnels” rather than improving the lives of Gazans, and perhaps most scandalously, preventing Gazan civilians from escaping the northern part of the enclave, intentionally putting them in harm’s way.

While there is no moral comparison between an Islamist terrorist group that gladly targets innocent Israeli men, women and children for death, hunting them down and killing them, all while recording it for posterity, Israel is actively targeting Hamas and its infrastructure.

In her broadcast, Hamamdjian showed viewers harrowing scenes from inside one of Gaza’s hospitals, sharing bare shelves, virtually empty of medicine, failing to share that Hamas’ theft of international aid for its terrorism efforts has been extensively established.

While Hamamdjian did acknowledge that “Israel claims Hamas is stockpiling hundreds of thousands of litres” of fuel, the truth is that Israel has done more than “claims” that Hamas is stockpiling fuel while simultaneously denying it to its own people: it has shared advanced aerial imagery showing exactly that.

While it is entirely appropriate for a news media outlet to report on the suffering inside the Gaza Strip, Hamamdjian’s report did little more than regurgitate Hamas propaganda, claiming Israel has killed thousands of civilians, all while telling viewers that Israel, for its part, merely “claims” not to be guilty of the crimes that Hamas has accused it of carrying out.

Hamamdjian concluded her report by disguising her opinion as news: “So is there a death toll that is too high for Canada, a red line? It’s a question I put to a senior Canadian diplomat and I’m told, Donna, that there isn’t a number, but rather it’s a question of criminal indifference and intentional disregard for human life and Canada does not think Israel has crossed that line yet.”

Hamamdjian’s report represents only the latest scandalous instance of a journalist falsely positioning Hamas propaganda on the same level – and in fact, even more reputable – as verified documentation from Israel. Canadians deserve better, and Hamamdjian’s report failed to uphold basic journalistic standards.