In “The White House tries to steer Israel back onto a two-way street” (03/07/24) by David Ignatius, despite all the Israel-bashing that is typical for a Washington Post column, two fundamental truths emerged about the Hamas/Israel war — seemingly by accident.  But those truths are critical to understanding what is going on in Israel and Gaza.

Unlike almost every Washington Post article regarding the war, Ignatius plainly admits that “Hamas has so far refused to accept the cease-fire that’s on the table.”  With all the coverage nationwide — even worldwide — supporting the pro-Hamas protests that call for a ceasefire, absent from the reporting is the obvious: Hamas refuses to accept a ceasefire.  The protesters are opposing the wrong side if they in fact want a ceasefire!  They should protest against Hamas!

Secondly, the editorial states that Benjamin Gantz, “member of the Israeli War Cabinet” and “chief political rival to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” agrees with Netanyahu “on assaulting Rafah.”  Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas.  Its defeat would ultimately mean the defeat of 100% of Gaza and Hamas.  All the mainstream media’s attempts to isolate Netanyahu as the bad guy in this war are unfounded.  Yes, not all Israelis like Netanyahu, but almost all of them agree with his message: Hamas must be defeated.

The Washington Post presents the Hamas/Israel war in lockstep with the Hamas viewpoint.  With antisemitism skyrocketing and Jews at risk for their physical safety, one would think the Post would be more thoughtful in its reporting to avoid inciting more violent protests.  Just this past week, a Jewish dentist was murdered by a patient, Jewish students were physically assaulted on college campuses, and synagogues were on high alert.  The Post throws fuel on this fire with its biased reporting.

Moreover, the Post consistently embellishes the statistics of casualties and parrots the words of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which further inflames readers.  The Gaza Health Ministry cannot account for the number of live Israeli hostages, but seconds after an explosion near a Gazan hospital or a stampede by a food truck, they immediately claim to know the precise number of casualties!

In recent editions of the Washington Post, there were two articles (here and here), both of which effectively legitimized Hamas’s unreliable casualty statistics.  One stated that the war “has killed 30,000 people, according to Gaza’s health authorities.”  The other remarked, “the Gaza Health Ministry says [the war] has already killed more than 30,000 people.”

The Post has on rare occasion “slipped” by telling the truth: that Hamas’s casualty numbers include Hamas combatants!  How negligent at best, or nefarious at worst, that the Post still chooses to print the faulty figures, thereby swaying readers in favor of Hamas and against Israel.

On Feb. 23, 2024, in “Israel says video shows U.N. worker in Oct. 7 attack,” the Post described the casualty figures this way: “At least 29,313 people have been killed in Gaza ... according to the Gaza Health Ministry which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.”

A few days later, on Feb. 26, 2024, in “U.S. hopes cease-fire agreement in Gaza can be reached in ‘coming days,’” the Post stated that “at least 29,692 people have been killed in Gaza ... according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.”  These “slip-ups” are rare at the Post, and they tell a completely different story from the Post’s usual coverage.

In a war where Israel is being accused — unfairly — of purposeful mass killing of Palestinians, it is indeed appropriate to caution that the casualty numbers include combatants and that the figures emanate from a terrorist regime, considered as such by the U.K., the E.U., and the United States, and therefore should be viewed with suspicion.  Additionally, never has a military had to encounter such a vast military tunnel system that puts civilians directly in harm’s way.  Hamas shoots from beneath and behind their civilians without providing them cover, exposing them to the expected return fire.  The ratio of civilian casualties to combatants does not exceed 1.5 to 1, far less than the comparable ratios in the recent American battles in Iraq.  It should be mentioned by the Post, or better yet emphasized, that the real casualty numbers contradict the Hamas Health Ministry because they prove that Israel is conducting one of the most humane military operations in history, especially considering the difficult circumstances of urban warfare.

“Israel has done more to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza than any other known army in the world has,” according to John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point and retired U.S. military officer.  His extensive thread is posted on X (formerly Twitter), according to the Jerusalem Post.

The Times of Israel reported three weeks ago, when there were fewer overall casualties, “Israel has said it killed some 12,000 Hamas members in Gaza fighting, in addition to some 1,000 killed in Israel in the aftermath of the terror group’s October 7 invasion and onslaught.”

That would mean that about half of all the casualties that the highly suspect Gaza Health Ministry has listed were civilians.  All tragic, and all the fault of Hamas.  These low civilian casualty figures are commendable, compared with the ratio of civilians to combatants killed by American forces in the Iraq war in Fallujah and Mosul.

In summary, the mainstream media, and The Washington Post especially, are guilty of propagating lies about the Hamas-Israel war.  These are the unreported facts:

• The lack of a ceasefire is the responsibility of Hamas, not Israel.
• The Israeli public is currently galvanized by a unity government, so there is no reason to portray Netanyahu as a “far-right” bogeyman.
• Israel is fighting the most humane, careful urban war in history.  The only genocide is what Hamas has vowed to inflict on the Jewish state again and again until it succeeds.
• Israel has been a strong ally of the United States.  The mainstream media are trying to drive a wedge between the two.  It won’t work.  The relationship between the two countries has value to both.  Both countries share intelligence; Israel spends its aid on American products, helping the American economy; Israel tests, in combat, American innovations; and most importantly, Israel is an island of allegiance in a dangerous yet critically important part of the world.

When will the mainstream media get the Israel story right, when they have been so wrong for so long?

Dr. Michael Berenhaus is a freelance activist who works to combat anti-Israel bias in the media.  He has been widely published in news sources such as The Economist, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Image: Daniel X. O'Neil via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.