New AP report exposes Hamas’s bogus death counts in Gaza war

Dear Friend of Israel, Friend of FLAME:

When Israel’s daring military operation successfully freed four kidnap victims from Gaza last week, the Washington Post ran the headline: “At least 274 Palestinians killed during Israeli raid to rescue 4 hostages.”

In other words, the Post’s message was: Israel killed hundreds of Palestinians in order to save just four kidnap victims—or, disproportionate force led to the deaths of many innocent civilians.

What the Post didn’t tell us was that the death count was not verified, since it came from Hamas’s Gaza Health Ministry, which consistently lies. They also didn’t tell us how many dozens of the dead were Hamas terrorists . . . or how many dozens more dead were “civilians” holding or guarding the hostages in their private apartments. Or how many dozens more were civilians killed by Palestinian fighters firing machine guns to stop Israeli soldiers from extracting the hostages from the densely populated neighborhood where they’d been held.

No specifics, just dead bodies—not verified by anyone.

Ironically, this media use of fake death counts came just days after the Associated Press (AP) revealed Hamas’s “daily death tolls . . . are provided without supporting data.” It means thousands of daily news stories in major media report a rising death count of Palestinians in Gaza—all unsubstantiated.

Media like CNN, NPR and the AP itself have uncritically regurgitated the claim that 72% of Gaza war dead were women and children. Yet now AP says, “the underlying data clearly showed the percentage [72%] was well below that.”

While AP’s analysis is only one of many that have exposed the patent unreliability of Hamas’s fake death toll accounts, it’s certainly the one with the highest visibility. Will the media ignore this one, as they have all the others—and continue to promote Hamas’s lies as truth? No major news outlet—including New York Times, CNN or NPR—has yet covered the AP report.

While Hamas are clearly the war criminals here—for their persistent strategy of stationing fighters among their civilian population—American news media are also culpable. Major media, such as USA Today and New York Times have obsessively focused on civilian deaths in Gaza, blaming Israel for them, rather than the terrorists who put those people directly in danger.

Two weeks ago, for example, NPR’s Jerusalem correspondent, Daniel Estrin, known for his past perversions of truthful reporting, covered the Israel Defense Forces operation in the Nuseirat “refugee camp” that precisely targeted and killed nine of an estimated 20 Hamas leaders who set up headquarters in a UN school surrounded by Gazan refugee encampments.

Unsurprisingly, a number of civilians were also reported to have been killed. NPR laid blame for the civilian deaths on the IDF’s use of American precision bombs—completely hiding the story’s main points. Estrin made no mention of Hamas’s war criminality in setting up a terrorist hideout in a civilian center . . . or Hamas’s primary responsibility for Gazan deaths in general for using human shields. No mention, either, that the death count could not be verified.

Major media virtually never acknowledge the fact that every war creates hundreds, thousands, often tens of thousands of tragic deaths—even more so when enemies hide in schools, hospitals and humanitarian shelters, as Hamas routinely does.

It’s time the media—and pro-Israel advocates—adopt a new strategy for highlighting the cause of Gaza’s civilian deaths. While civilian deaths are regrettable—but inevitable in any war—Hamas multiplies the Gazan death count by its purposeful strategy of placing fighters in densely populated civilian centers.

The honest message, the true message, the humanitarian message must be: “Hamas: Stop killing your own people.” Israel is not violating international law when it targets enemy fighters hiding among civilians—though Israel often calls off strikes likely to kill civilians. But when Palestinians die during attacks on Hamas, Hamas is fully to blame.

AP’s report proves Hamas has been lying since day one. While the Hamas’s Gaza Ministry of Health reported as recently as March that 72% of war deaths were women and children, AP’s new report found that this ratio has never been higher than 64.4% and as of April 30^th had declined to just 38.1%.

AP’s report was based on the total number of fully identified victims—22,961—roughly 12,000 less than the total casualty figure Hamas reported as of April 30^th. In other words, Hamas added a third more deaths to the casualty count by including those unidentified and those believed to be buried under rubble—bodies that cannot be counted.

Other analyses have discredited Hamas death statistics, but the media have ignored them, focusing obsessively on the “rising death count.” Last month, for example, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) drastically revised its casualty figures from the war in Gaza, reducing the number of “identified” women and children killed by more than half, due to the fact that 40% of deaths reported in Gaza were based on unverified data.

The media unfairly hold Israel responsible for any and all civilian deaths. Media almost never report Hamas’s cynical and criminal use of human shields. Thus, initial reports of the hostage rescue ignored Hamas hiding of hostages in a densely populated residential area.

Nor do major media ever mention Israel’s impressive civilian-to-combatant death ratio of just 1.5:1—perhaps the lowest in the history of modern warfare. Even if you believe Hamas’s bogus numbers, the civilian death toll in Gaza is extraordinarily low compared to averages in other wars, which often range as high as 4:1 (civilians to combatants).

Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that we must hold the media accountable for factual reporting. No more fake death counts. No more ignoring Hamas’s daily war crimes and responsibility for tens of thousands of dead Palestinians.

Above all, stop blaming Israel for Palestinian deaths in Gaza. Our message must be “Hamas, stop killing your own people.”

If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge.

Best regards,

James Sinkinson, President

Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)

P.S.      The riots, vandalism and illegal trespassing on American college campuses have

sharpened the knives of the Israel haters. It’s become clear that the “pro-Palestinian” protesters are purely anti-Israel and support the genocide of Jews “between the river and the sea.” Scandalously, we’ve also seen hard evidence that university administrators are willing to ignore or openly support the antisemitic hate speech and harassment of Jewish students—though they would never permit such behavior against other minorities. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of Jewish students and hate-free campuses need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Stop Terrorism on Campus”—calls for four actions to eliminate campus outlaws and to restore rights to all students. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME has scheduled for publication in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times and Los Angeles Times on July 7. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, Vice President Harris and President Biden. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation.

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