Hamas spreads disinformation – and the Western media takes over. The border access with Gaza will open on Friday ++ Israel wants a ground offensive soon

“Israeli attack kills hundreds in hospital, Palestinian says,” the New York Times reported Tuesday evening. And she wasn’t alone: ​​most Arab and many Western media reported the same breaking news. The news quickly led to riots in many Arab countries, where heads of state also strongly condemned Israel.

At the time, there were only a few videos circulating of the explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Arab hospital and a report from the Gaza Ministry of Health stating that 500 people had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. The problem: Almost no one said the ministry was under Hamas control. So from the organization that killed more than 1,400 Israelis in terrorist attacks on October 7 and kidnapped almost 200 hostages to Gaza. It is classified as a terrorist organization by the US and EU.

According to the Israeli military spokesman, Hamas fired several rockets into Israel from 6:15 p.m. About 45 minutes later, Islamic Jihad – also in Gaza – followed with more rockets. Shortly afterwards there were the first reports of an explosion at the hospital. According to the spokesperson, Hamas investigated these reports and determined that a misplaced Islamic Jihad rocket had hit the hospital. Hamas then specifically decided to spread its own version of events.

NGOs also shared Hamas propaganda

Not only the media, but also aid organizations such as Doctors Without Borders have undoubtedly adopted Hamas’s message. They later deleted the posts on ‘X’ due to ‘doubts about the situation’, as they announced on the platform.

Just an hour after the first breaking news, the US New York Times changed the headline on its website to ‘At least 500 dead in Gaza hospital explosion, Palestinians say.’ Deutschlandfunk wrote on “X” (formerly Twitter): “In an initial report we talked about an Israeli attack based on the news situation at the time. The level of information is different now.”

Al Jazeera’s live broadcast should show a missile

The new information status signified the Israeli army’s report. These statements were later supplemented with expert opinions, recordings of intercepted conversations and videos.

The Qatari news channel Al Jazeera played an important role in spreading the Hamas message. Just last week, Israel’s Communications Minister said he wanted to close the broadcaster’s local bureau due to its proximity to Hamas. In fact, Al Jazeera largely stuck with Hamas’s version of the hospital explosion. The medium, among other things, questioned the credibility of the Israeli army.

The broadcaster cites the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as the reason. The veteran Palestinian-American journalist was shot dead in May 2022 while reporting from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. The Israeli government initially denied involvement in her death. Only when several independent investigations confirmed that only an Israeli soldier could have killed them did Israel admit responsibility.

The US and Israel agree

According to current information, there is no evidence for the alleged 500 deaths after the explosion. As shown in several recordings, the rocket did not hit the hospital building, but rather the hospital parking lot.

Upon his arrival in Israel, President Joe Biden said that, according to US information, “the other side,” i.e. Islamic Jihad, was responsible for the explosion. The group, which emerged in the Gaza Strip in the 1980s, has carried out several attacks and suicide bombings in Israel. In addition, members of Islamic Jihad repeatedly fire rockets from Gaza into Israel.

For many voices in the Arab world, these corrections no longer matter. Ayman Sagadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, told NBC News: “No one in this part of the world believes this story.”