Thread by @CAMERAorg

THREAD: The media lies about sick Gazan children in an attempt to smear Israel…

Again.

1/ 🇮🇱 facilitated the evacuation of a 5yo Gazan boy, Osama al-Raqab to a 🇮🇹 hospital w/acute malnutrition.

He’s now recovering. But what the @BBC, @anadoluagency & @fattoquotidiano headlines didn’t say?

He has cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness severely affecting nutrition.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano 2/ Gaza’s HAMAS-ran Health Ministry used Osama’s image to blame Israel for a starvation campaign. What they didn’t say:
▪️ His own family confirmed his diagnosis
▪️ Israel helped coordinate his transfer abroad
▪️ He was never a "healthy" child

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano 3/ The lie was deliberate.

Hamas official Munir al-Boursh claimed Israel was “misleading public opinion” by saying Osama had a medical condition, despite his grandmother, mother, and uncle ALL publicly describing Osama’s cystic fibrosis.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano 4/ The media ran with it.

An outdated, emaciated image of Osama went viral.

An Italian newspaper published both the uncontextualized image and an op-ed claiming Israel is committing the “exact same” crimes inflicted on Jews in the Holocaust.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano 5/ The good news is that Osama al-Raqab’s condition has since improved.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano 6/ And Osama isn’t the only child whose condition was weaponized.

Remember Mohammed al-Mutawaq?

@nytimes & others said he was “born healthy” and starved due to Israel.

But he has cerebral palsy, hypoxemia, and a genetic disorder- meaning he has severe feeding issues.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano @nytimes 7/ That fact was buried until independent journalist
@mishtal uncovered a medical report signed by a Gaza doctor confirming it.

Only then did @CNN and @nytimes update their pieces.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano @nytimes @mishtal @CNN 8/ But others, including @NPR, still imply Mohammed was a typical Gazan child.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano @nytimes @mishtal @CNN @NPR 9/ Why lie? Because Hamas needs headlines.

So Gaza’s Hamas-ran Health Ministry IGNORES comorbidities, and the global press plays along.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano @nytimes @mishtal @CNN @NPR 10/ So many incidents like this have happened before.

Remember the Ahli Hospital hoax, when 500 were falsely reported killed in an Israeli airstrike?

11/ It happened again when the UN’s humanitarian chief claimed 14,000 Gazan babies would die in 48 hours without food aid.

The original report? It said 14,000 could suffer malnutrition over a year.

That lie went global. 👇

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano @nytimes @mishtal @CNN @NPR 12/ Moreover, these fabrications don’t help Gazans.

They:
▪️ Undermine trust in real reporting 🗞️
▪️ Distract from UN failures to deliver aid 🇺🇳
▪️ Protect Hamas, who refuse to surrender or spare their civilians ❌

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano @nytimes @mishtal @CNN @NPR 13/ Food insecurity in Gaza is real. But so is Hamas’s responsibility, propaganda war, and the media’s complicity.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano @nytimes @mishtal @CNN @NPR 14/ If journalists want to help, they must stop laundering Hamas talking points.

Real reporting means telling the truth, even when it doesn’t fit an outlet's preferred narrative.

@BBC @anadoluagency @fattoquotidiano @nytimes @mishtal @CNN @NPR Read the full CAMERA exposé from @GileadIni 👇

🔗camera.org/article/gazas-…