by Robert Spencer
The IDF rescues four Israeli hostages. Can you guess who was holding them?
[Order a copy of Robert Spencer’s forthcoming book, Muhammad: A Critical Biography, by clicking here.]
In a tacit but sharp rebuke to Old Joe Biden and all the others who warned Israel not to go into Rafah and claimed that the hostages Hamas was holding could be rescued through peaceful negotiations, Israel on Saturday rescued four of those hostages in Nuseirat. Instead of applauding the courage and ingenuity of the rescuers, the international media has lined up for the predictable chorus of condemnation of Israel. This time, however, the propaganda rings even more hollow than it usually does, for amid all the claims of the deaths of “innocent civilians” in Gaza, it is clear that a good many of those “civilians” played an active role in the holding of the hostages.
The Associated Press’ headline on its Saturday story on the rescue was indicative of the tone of establishment media coverage: “Israel rescues 4 hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, and 210 Palestinians are reported killed.” The last sentence of the lead paragraph revealed the source and motivation for the claim about Palestinian casualties: “At least 210 Palestinians, including children, were killed, a Gaza health official said.”
A “Gaza health official” is one-hundred-percent certain to be a member of Hamas. Hamas has abundant reason to lie about the number of civilian casualties that result from Israeli actions, as it is well aware that such propaganda plays extremely well in Brussels, Washington, and the UN General Assembly, and results in billions of dollars in “humanitarian aid” being showered upon them. Yet Hamas has been proven to be lying about the casualty numbers. In mid-May, the UN cut in half the number of women and children it claimed that the Israelis have killed in Gaza. The Jerusalem Post reported that in the UN’s latest report on the number of casualties in Gaza, it added a disclaimer that should have been there from the very beginning: “The UN has so far not been able to produce independent, comprehensive, and verified casualty figures.”
Yet a month later, here was AP once again uncritically repeating Hamas’ figures, and it wasn’t finished. At least its follow-up report on Sunday was immediately forthright about the source of its figures: “Gaza’s Health Ministry says 274 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages.” Nowhere in its report, however, did AP bother to explain to its readers that the Gaza Health Ministry was an arm of Hamas, and thus that its casualty figures had to be regarded with extreme skepticism.
Nor did AP mention the shocking fact that at least one of those “innocent civilians” in Gaza played an active role in the holding of at least one of the Israeli hostages. Open Source Intelligence Monitor reported on X Sunday that “one of the Israeli Hostages that was Rescued yesterday during the Joint-Operation in Central Gaza, 26-Year-Old Noa Argamani was being held Captive in the Home of Abdallah Aljamal, a Photojournalist and Writer/Editor for both Al-Jazeera and the Palestinian Chronicle. During the Operation, Abdallah and several Members of his Family were Killed while attempting to Prevent the Rescue of Noa.”
Indirectly confirming this was the staunchly anti-Israel Ramy Abdu of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, who wrote on X: “In an initial testimony documenting the killings committed by the Israeli army in the Nuseirat camp today, the @EuroMedHR reported that the Israeli army used a ladder to enter the home of Dr. Ahmed Al-Jamal. The army immediately executed 36-year-old Fatima Al-Jamal upon encountering her on the staircase. The forces then stormed the house and executed her husband, journalist Abdullah Al-Jamal, 36, and his father, Dr. Ahmed, 74, in front of his grandchildren. The army also shot their daughter, Zainab, 27, who sustained serious injuries.”
Abdu portrays this as a series of gratuitous murders of civilians, but actually the IDF entered Aljamal’s home because that’s where Israeli hostage Noa Argamani was being kept. When Abdu was asked if the raid meant that Argamani was being held in the Aljamal home, he answered: “This should be answered by Israeli officials.” An X user spelled out the obvious implications of this curious answer: “Wow. Look at that. You can’t say no. Feels like you ought to know the answer before trying to evoke sympathy for these people.”
Abdu likely does know the answer, and that answer is clear enough whatever he says. Israel takes immense pains to avoid civilian casualties. Instead of headlining its stories with bogus Hamas-sourced casualty numbers, AP ought to be exploring the implications of the likely fact that a civilian “journalist” was actively involved in Hamas’ holding of Israeli hostages, and discussing what that means for the concept of “civilian” in Gaza in general.
But AP will do no such thing. The propaganda will continue.
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 28 books, including many bestsellers, such as The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), The Truth About Muhammad, The History of Jihad, and The Critical Qur’an. His latest book is Muhammad: A Critical Biography. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.
Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/rescued/
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