In a December 31 article in Le Devoir, reporter Jeanne Claveau-Laviolette chronicles the new security precautions required by Israel of so-called “humanitarian” organizations operating in Gaza, to help ensure that they do not employ members of Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

However, her article, “Israel suspends 37 NGOs in Gaza, including Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam-Québec,” relied overwhelmingly on the statements of local anti-Israel groups, and only offered a brief nod to the security threats these groups pose to Jerusalem. It also failed to explain that Israel has identified multiple former staffers of these organizations who were also documented members of a Palestinian terrorist group.

Her article extensively quotes François Audet, director of the Canadian Observatory on Crisis and Humanitarian Action, who claimed that “they are the ones best equipped operationally to distribute food there.”

Audet, who has previously spread anti-Israel disinformation, including falsely accusing the country of “deliberately preventing food from entering Gaza,” has a right to his opinion, as detached from reality as they may be.

But it is Le Devoir’s responsibility to inform readers, rather than just platforming reliable anti-Israel voices.

All the 37 organizations which have refused to comply with Israel’s security screenings collectively represent less than one percent of the humanitarian aid entering Gaza, a significant detail that went completely unmentioned by Claveau-Laviolette.

In fact, dozens of groups operating in Gaza have complied with Israeli law, and are continuing to offer humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. This fact means that, despite the hysterics coming from Audet, humanitarian work continues unabated, both in terms of deliveries into Gaza, and work inside the enclave, from groups that have made that their focus.

While the article does briefly acknowledge Israel’s security concerns and quote a statement from the Israeli government, it is Audet’s condemnation of Israel which represents the overwhelming focus of the piece.

Le Devoir notes that, beyond being required to share the names of their employees, the law also excludes groups which “have supported the boycott of Israel” or “questioned the October 7, 2023 attack” by Hamas against Israel.

However, this too fails to draw a fulsome picture for readers. For years, groups such as Doctors Without Borders/MSF and Oxfam have devoted significant resources to demonizing Israel, engaging in expensive advertising purchases to spread anti-Israel propaganda to Canadian audiences, and spreading scurrilous disinformation, almost always without any challenge by the Canadian news media.

Israel has pointed out that groups like Doctors Without Borders/MSF have “shifted from medical assistance to political advocacy,” using their reputations as humanitarian organizations to engage in activism rather than life-saving work, but that has not stopped countless media outlets from platforming them without any challenge. As 2026 begins, it is critical that Canadian news media outlets finally begin to hold so-called “humanitarian” organizations accountable for their actions, rather than acting as their stenographers.