Washington Post vouches for Hamas' credibility

Ignores its own debunking of Hamas' recent lies about that "hospital" bombing.

The Washington Post’s report on Israel’s stepped-up activity on the ground in Gaza contains this passage:

Amid the barrage, Gazans — cut off from each other and the outside by a continuing phone and internet blackout — frantically searched for safety and news of their loved ones. The attacks overnight and Saturday killed 377, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas but has been a reliable source of data on casualties in the past. More than 7,703 have been killed since Oct. 7, the ministry said.

The Post’s reporters don’t provide the basis for their claim that the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza has been a reliable source of data on casualties. Readers are left to guess that basis.

It doesn’t matter. Whatever its alleged basis, the Post’s claim that the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry has been a reliable source is flatly false. The Post’s own reporting establishes this.

Recall the debunked claim that an Israeli air strike hit a hospital in Gaza killing 500 hundred Gazans. Everything Hamas said in connection with the incident in question was false.

The air strike did not come from Israel. It came from Gaza and was intended to cause destruction in Israel. Furthermore, the rocket fired by the terrorists did not hit the hospital. It landed in the hospital’s parking lot.

Finally, and most importantly for purposes of this post, the rocket did not kill 500 people. The Post itself concluded that the death toll was in the neighborhood of 100. (I’ve seen lower estimates but good luck trying to find them through Google.)

In short, Hamas lied about every aspect of this incident, including the death count. And, according to this report, this one, and even this one from the Washington Post, the death count, inflated by a factor of about five (if not more), came directly from the Gaza ministry of health.

The Post cannot have forgotten about this recent case of death-count dishonesty by the Gaza health ministry. Thus, when the Post claims that this ministry “has been a reliable source of data on casualties in the past,” it is lying.

I also want to highlight the mainstream media’s biased way of evaluating credibility when it comes to statements by Israel, on the one hand, and Hamas, on the other.

Recall the media skepticism that followed the debunking of the hospital attack hoax. Not long after that rocket landed in the hospital parking lot, the Israeli government provided strong evidence that the rocket came from Gaza, not Israel. The evidence included video of the rocket that showed its origin, as well as a recording of two terrorists bemoaning the fact that the rocket was “theirs.”

In addition, there were photos of the hole created by the rocket — in the hospital parking lot. These photos also showed that some cars in the lot were barely damaged. Given the destruction caused by Israeli air strikes, this evidence was entirely inconsistent with the notion that the damage was caused by Israel.

Based on all of this evidence plus its own intelligence, the Biden administration agreed with Israel. The rocket was fired by terrorists in Gaza at Israel.

Yet, the mainstream media wasn’t persuaded. CNN decided to conduct its own investigation. The Washington Post conducted its own analysis, as well. In the end they and other MSM outlets all reached the same conclusion that Israel and the U.S. had. Hamas’ claims were false.

In sum, the American mainstream media, including the Washington Post, was unwilling to accept factual findings favorable to Israel made by the Biden administration, even though they were supported by strong, publicly-available evidence. The MSM outlets had to conduct their own analysis. Yet, the Post takes at face value claims by Hamas.

Worse yet, in so doing, the Post not only ignores the blatant recent lying of Hamas about an important death count. It also says the Hamas ministry that had just lied about that death count has been a reliable source of data on casualties.

I could not have made this up. But then, I’m not the Hamas ministry of health— or the Washington Post.