In “15 first responders killed in Rafah, U.N. says; IDF orders mass evacuation” (03/31/25), the Washington Post continues to display its anti-Israel animus.  In this article, there are so many lies, distortions, and manipulations that the Post has outdone itself.

The Post article once again took the word of individual Gazans, who are known to be under duress to toe the Hamas line.  They took the word of the Gazan Health Ministry, which is known to fabricate casualty figures, often reporting the impossible: exact numbers of casualties moments after an attack.  Their “exact numbers” are often found to be wrong, and the perpetrator of the attack is found to be wrong.  For example, in the Al-Ahli Hospital bombing, a mere fraction of the casualty count was correct, and the perpetrator was Islamic Jihad, not Israel.

Under these circumstances, where the Post has been led astray time after time by Hamas and the Gazans, one would think the Post would check and double-check claims before reporting from the terrorist enclave.  But no — why pass up an opportunity to smear Israel?  So what if facts get in the way?

The Post states that Israel “broke the ceasefire” with Hamas.  But what really happened is that the ceasefire agreement expired, and an extension was not agreed upon.  And Hamas refused to release any more hostages.  Of course Israel will try to rescue its hostages.  What country wouldn’t do this?  Nice manipulation of what happened, Washington Post.

The Post was once known for its investigative reporting, but now the paper is quick to print anything to castigate Israel.  In this story, there is a specific grievous charge: that Israel killed members of the Palestinian Red Cross and buried them in a mass grave.  The IDF responded, but according to the Post, “It did not provide evidence of the claim that militants were in the convoy and did not respond when asked why the first responders were buried in a mass grave.”  But did the Post ask the Gazans to provide evidence of their side of the story?  No.

In every aspect of the story, the Post took the word of the terrorist-run enclave over the Israeli democracy.  The Post stated that “Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.”  However, the assertion about women and children was contradicted by the Jerusalem Post article “Hamas admits 72% of deaths are of combat-aged men as it quietly reduces civilian death toll — report” (04/02/25), which said, “Hamas has previously claimed that 70% of casualties have been women and children, a claim no longer reflected in their recently updated lists, according to the research.  Approximately 72% of fatalities between the ages of 13–55 are men — the demographic category aligns with Hamas combatants.”  So the Post is wrong again.

In a conflict that is so contentious and often fought in the court of public opinion, it is imperative for media sources to be accurate, fair, and objective.  The Post fails on all three counts.

Image: Ron Cogswell via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.