Has the West been taken in by Hamas’ lies and anti Israeli narrative?

[OpheliaWasntMad]

https://nypost.com/2026/09/21/opinion/journalist-admits-anti-israel-narrative-driving-protests-is-based-on-hamas-lies/

This journalist admits that his reporting from Gaza was not accurate because he was afraid of retaliation from Hamas.
Why have so many believed every report from Gaza journalists?

Indeed this is a small corner of MN. It appears some would/could never attribute any blame to Palestinian people for anything that occurs and a binary Palestine good Israel bad narrative exists with some.

The Palestinian group that took the Babas mother and babies don't agree with peaceful relations with Israel.

I have been looking at this conflict since long before Hamas came to power, let alone since before October 7th. As much as I opposed the treatment of the black population by South Africa during the Apartheid years, I have opposed the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis. In this tragic case, Israel says one thing about what happened to the family and Hamas says another. I do not know what the truth is but I am certainly not going to simply believe Israel's unverified version anymore than I am blindly going to believe Hamas' version. Both of them are terrorist entities as far as I, and many many other people including Israelis, believe. Both of them are more than capable of lying so as far as I'm concerned, the only tool left to form an opinion is logical deduction. Both had means and opportunity. Question comes down to motive.

The only question in my mind is whether or not you are aware you're repeating Hamas propaganda.

That is far far from an ergo.

I am simply declaring my own thoughts and conclusions. Any similarity with any other statements from anywhere else are purely coincidental.

As I said, just following your logic. Apparently I can't say that though, but you can spread all the conspiracy theories you like.

The autopsies won’t happen until after the war ends and UN teams go in to exhume the mass graves. For many dead, there are no bodies. They were shredded by bombs, or rotted to bones under rubble that are now being bulldozed as the yellow line moves ever closer to the sea.

The current death toll cannot be accurate under the circumstances. Several experts jointly wrote a few papers showing it is likely to be much higher.

My honest answer is that I don't know what you are even talking about. I don't think I have even heard any Hamas propaganda, especially recently. If there is something specific I have said I would appreciate it if you could highlight it for me as I am interested.

That’s usually how total death toll figures are presented though. The total death toll for Israeli dead from Oct 7th include IDF soldiers, police and other security teams that defended against the attacking terrorists. It wasn’t for months after it ended that the death toll was able to be published with a breakdown of combatants and noncombatants.

We will have to wait until the Gaza conflict is really over to find out a similar breakdown.

It could be Hamas propaganda that says IDF killed the Bibias family.

Sadly, the propaganda is more effective because, unfortunately, the IDF has both deliberately and accidentally killed some of the hostages. The IDF has also been caught in a few lies about how certain Israeli and Palestinian civilians ended up dead in this conflict.

I would not say that the West has been taken in by such propaganda though as most of what is being said and done by western leaders is based on verified facts. Whether or not we agree with their decisions based on those facts is another matter.

It could well be coincidence.

That’s what propaganda does. It starts with facts and then leads you down a path to a conclusion that isn’t supported by the facts but sounds logical and reasonable. It’s very powerful and insidious because it often presents as fact a mere possibility, but it’s the possibility no matter how improbable that benefits the author the most.

It’s why all militaries in all countries have psyops units dedicated to generating propaganda both aimed at the enemy and aimed at their own civilian citizens to keep up the public support for the war or wars. Terrorist groups have a miniature version of this too both to justify their actions to themselves and to the civilians they recruit from and hide amongst.

The recently released satellite images of Gaza are hard to even comprehend. Nothing, gone.
They are trending online.
There has been more than one leader who has confirmed that they forwarded intel of a planned attack against Israel from Gaza.
This is not Hamas propaganda. It has come through various media channels. I would say reputable because that doesn’t exist anymore.
Netanyahu is as evil as Hama.
Time will tell.

Yes the satellite images are undeniably horrific.

Given the level of destruction (although it's not true that all of Gaza is gone), the comparatively low civilian death rate very strongly argues against the "genocide" claim - it's clear that civilians were in the main evacuated from areas before heavy bombardment.

The number of civilian deaths far exceed other past conflicts legally ruled as genocides.

The civilian death rate wasn’t low for an armed conflict in recent modern times.

Genocide is more complex than how many civilians did a state kill. Intention is the key to genocide and the hardest to prove. In fact, a state can commit genocide without killing anyone according to the current legal definition of it.

It is better to leave the question of genocide or not genocide to the experts at the ICJ.

Are you sure? Recently recognised genocides are Rwanda and Cambodia, each with figures in the millions.
Bosnia, granted, was 8,000 deaths, but this involved the explicit rounding up and killing of a group of refugees, which is entirely different to civilians killed as collateral. That wider war killed 100K, but the rest of it is not considered a genocide.

Not genocide in terms of numbers, The IDF are certainly ethnicity cleansing the area of the Palestinian people.
No schools, hospitals, shops, businesses, no ability to rebuild, no access to electricity heat or water, living in crumbling unstable buildings.
It is hopeless.
I really don’t understand how anyone could think this was okay.
What else can they do but leave try to get out alive.

Simply not true. An estimated 75%, Tutsis were killed in 100 days in Rwanda. More than a third of the men/boys in Srebrenica. These numbers are easy to find. As @NancyThompson said the low number of civilians compared to the destruction of buildings points to the fact that it was not genocide because the IDF took measures to avoid civilian deaths. Exceptionally hard in highly concentrated populations in the context of urban guerilla warfare with an enemy that positively wanted them to kill civilians.

And @EmeraldShamrock000 I don't think anyone thinks its ok.

Israel has already rounded them up. Surely you've heard Gaza described as the biggest open air prison. There is a land, sea and air blockade. You couldn't round them up more if you tried.

Because they elected Hamas. And we saw exactly what happens when Hamas get through three years go.

Only described as that by people who don't know what they are talking about a prefer a juicy soundbite to sensible analysis. Your implication here is actually disgraceful.