Since the start of its latest brutal bombing campaign in Gaza, the Israeli war machine has unleashed horror on the Strip.
To justify their war crimes and genocidal acts, the Israeli state and media are churning out lies. And these are blindly repeated by western politicians and press without proper investigation.
‘Beheaded babies’
The most shocking – and easily refutable – was the claim about ‘40 beheaded babies’, which made its way onto the frontpages of Britain’s newspapers. Without verifying the evidence, or looking into the incident, outlets such as the Financial Times, the Times, and the Scotsman all ran headlines echoing this myth.
The story originated from i24NEWS correspondent Nicole Zedeck, who in turn heard it from an IDF soldier. A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told CNN that babies and toddlers with their “head decapitated” had been found. Joe Biden also claimed that he had seen photographic proof of this atrocity.
Subsequently, however, IDF rep Doron Spielman stated to NBC news that he could not confirm these allegations. Multiple other news agencies sought comments from the Israeli military and received similar responses. The White House was also forced to backtrack and make excuses for the US President.
Even after all of this, Sky News published an article with an ambiguous title, “what we actually know about the viral report of beheaded babies in Israel”, instead of straight-forwardly stating that this was nothing but a fabrication.
Hamas’ hospital HQ
The Israeli army has also peddled lies to excuse its attacks on one of the biggest medical facilities in Gaza, the Al-Shifa hospital.
Claiming that Hamas runs a command centre there, the IDF bombarded – and eventually besieged – parts of the hospital housing thousands of patients and medical workers. This led to 15,000 people being displaced.
After forcing most people to evacuate, including very sick patients, Israeli forces entered the hospital and released a series of farcical propaganda videos, pointing out various pieces of supposed ‘evidence’. This included tunnels, unused underground rooms, and rifles found behind an MRI machine.
But the rifles double in number between shots, indicating that the footage had been doctored. Furthermore, video and geolocation analysis by The Washington Post showed that “none of the five buildings [in the Al-Shifa complex] highlighted by the IDF appear to connect to the tunnels”.
The BBC and the Guardian eventually came to a similar conclusion, all saying that the proof provided “falls short” of confirming the Hamas HQ accusation.
The White House also downgraded its description of the suspected site, referring to it as a potential “command node” or possible weapon storage.
Even when the IDF allowed BBC journalist Lucy Williamson to visit the location, they only allowed her and one other reporter into the MRI room, refusing them any opportunity to interview patients or health workers.
Washington has backed the Israeli state’s allegations, insisting that Hamas was using the hospital, but fled before the IDF’s operation.
Lest we forget, however, these assertions come from the same US ‘intelligence’ agencies that claimed to have irrefutable evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. And we all know how that story panned out.
History of lies
Recent propaganda and falsehoods follow an extensive history of lies by the Israeli state.
One infamous incident was the cold-blooded murder of Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh by an IDF sniper in May 2022. The Israeli military falsely denied responsibility. And the western press all purposefully aided this obfuscation of the truth.
As with many other cases before and after October 7, Israeli officials changed their stories and provided no evidence for their assertions. But apparently the assurances of a representative of this criminal regime are sufficient enough for the mouthpieces of imperialism.
Tell the truth
An old proverb correctly states that: “In war, truth is the first casualty.” And in Israeli imperialism’s war on Gaza, ‘unverified claims’ reign supreme.
The western media has played a shameful role in propagating these lies. At best, they provide almost-invisible caveats highlighting that their sensationalist headlines have not been verified. But even when a retraction is offered, and journalistic wrongdoing is later admitted, the damage is already done.
This shows why we need a workers’ press: independent of the imperialists in Westminster or Washington; free to tell the truth in the interests of the working class.
We do not pretend to be impartial. We stand firmly on the side of the exploited and the oppressed. So support the revolutionary press! Help us build The Communist!
