Israeli public diplomacy in the Israel–Hamas war

A "Shabbat Dinner" table at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art plaza, with more than 200 empty seats, representing the hostages and missing held in Gaza

Israeli public diplomacy in the Israel–Hamas war, also referred to as Hasbara in the Israel–Hamas war or Israeli propaganda in the Israel–Hamas war refers to the Israeli effort towards bringing more favor of global public opinion to Israel and its actions during the Israel–Hamas war.

These efforts take place in the context that a week after the outbreak of the war following the 7 October 2023 surprise attack on Israel, the Israeli Ministry of Information was closed and the office's resources were transferred to the new Rebirth Administration. The role of explaining Israel's actions has been the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since then.

On the public side, the Israeli home front also conducts outreach activities, mainly on social networks, in addition to famous personalities and former politicians defending Israel, especially on world television. Prominent leaders in the world, especially in the West such as Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and especially the United States, expressed support for Israel, and even visited the nation during conflict.

Challenges

The "Empty Beds" installation in HaBima Square (Culture Square) in Tel Aviv, where empty beds are displayed, and in particular children's beds and cribs, which represent the abductees.

Israeli hasbara faces a number of difficulties. Even before the war, there were phenomena of anti-Zionism in the United States and Europe that took root in progressive and more radical left-wing organizations and activists. As part of intersectionalist activism focused on uniting struggles across disparate races, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities, the Palestinian struggle are frequently linked to other struggles such as that of the LGBTQ+ community and African-Americans in the United States. These associations gave legitimacy to the Palestinians as a persecuted group requiring public activism for support, which in turn caused pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel bodies in United States universities to grow in size and influence. Examples of these groups include the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Many elite universities, such as Harvard University, also supported Palestinians often with rhetoric regarding colonialism and imperialism. In some cases, instances of antisemitism become involved with anti-Zionist activism despite efforts among some groups to prevent this.

The 7 October surprise attack on Israel and the Israel–Hamas war posed new challenges to Israeli hasbara:

• Bringing the cases of massacre and kidnapping in the surprise attack, carried out by terrorists involved with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to the knowledge of the world public.
• The justification for the extensive damage caused in the Gaza Strip during the war, which in addition to harming Hamas infrastructure and troops included killing at least tens of thousands of civilians, extensive destruction of homes and infrastructure, turning hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into refugees, and creating mass starvation. The images of the widespread damage in Gaza increased sympathy for the Palestinians.
• Bringing to the public's attention the fate of the abductees from Israel to the Gaza Strip, those who were released and those who remained in the hands of terrorist networks.
• Dealing with historic and current statements by Israeli politicians that permit widespread harm to civilians in the Gaza Strip and are judged as genocidal by many governments and organizations. Such statements include:
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who described the war as "a war between the sons of light and the sons of darkness" and said that "the memory of Amalek must be wiped out";
  • President Isaac Herzog, who claimed that "it is an entire nation there that is responsible. The talk about unaware and involved citizens is not true";
  • Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said that "Gaza will not return to what it was. Everything will be eliminated […] I released all restraints";
  • Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir , who said: "When we say we want to destroy Hamas, we also mean those who celebrated, supported and distributed sweets - they are all terrorists and they too must be destroyed";
  • Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, who announced "This is Nakbat Gaza 2023";
  • Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, in his remarks regarding the dropping of an atomic bomb on Gaza,
  • The statement made by some politicians according to which there are "no non-involved" in Gaza.

Foreign media outlets such as the BBC have been accused by Israel and Israel-supportive figures of pro-Palestinian bias.

Following the war, anti-Semitic reactions intensified in universities in the United States. On December 6, the United States Congress held a public hearing for Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania following the increase in anti-Semitism on their campuses and the silence of the presidency and management. The presidency was asked "does not calling for the genocide of the Jewish people constitute harassment, bullying or a violation of the code of ethics?" with their answers including "it depends on the context" and "if the words become actions". Their response received sharp condemnation from many United States politicians and organizations and a demand that they resign. Documentation of the hearing and the responses to it were published on the Internet and received millions of views and many comments condemning or mocking the universities for this. Following Elizabeth Magill's words at the hearing, a major donor canceled a $100 million donation to the University of Pennsylvania.

Advocacy by the State of Israel

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IDF spokespeople

By October 20, more than a billion exposures to content released by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs were registered, some of them in Arabic and Persian. The IDF also has a partnership in the effort, when a video of horrors "through the eyes of Hamas " published by an IDF spokesperson received six million views on its first day of posting. The IDF published many additional videos and many terrorist investigations. Both the IDF and the Foreign Ministry censored very little in order to cause shock to global viewers in order to prompt them to support Israel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs screened the film documenting the atrocities of Hamas in dozens of Israeli embassies around the world, and continues to do so.

IDF spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagari held a daily briefing for the media, usually in Hebrew and sometimes in English when he presented important information. As the war progressed, the IDF spokesman disclosed intelligence information and evidence obtained by the fighters and the operational documentation unit in the field that included several reports and claims of Hamas using civilians and civilian infrastructure as human shields. This included videos purported Hamas' use of hospitals for terrorist purposes, and in particular the Shifa Hospital, including Israeli statements of it hosting underground headquarters.

The supervisor of the international department in Dover was Lt. Col. Richard Hecht. Under him, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner served in the reserves for many months of the war. After his release from the reserves, Lerner criticized the performance of the Israeli government in the matter of how it presented information.

"Film of Horrors"

Main article: Bearing Witness (2023 film)

The IDF spokesman made a 47-minute film made up of a collection of raw footage of the massacre in the Gaza Strip in the surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and mainly includes clips taken from body cameras worn by Hamas terrorists in the surprise attack, and contains scenes of torture, murder, and mutilation of bodies. The film states that it does not include documentation of rape cases in order not to harm the families' dignity, except "only the parts after which it is very clear that there was rape". The official name of the film is Bearing Witness to the October 7th Massacre but it was nicknamed "The Film of Horrors" by the media in Israel and the public. Since the film contains harsh images and may cause trauma and psychological damage to viewers, it's viewing is restricted and not distributed among the general public. Official representatives of Israel (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IDF Spokesman, Israel's Ambassador to the UN) conducted closed screenings for opinion leaders in Israel and the world, including members of parliament, journalists, media editors, foreign missions, and more.

Israeli President

On October 15, in an interview with CNN, President Isaac Herzog showcased the document "The Captive Kidnapping Plan", stated to have been found on the body of one of the terrorists, which details the instructions given to the terrorists on how to act when kidnapping the hostages. Among the trainings it is written that the kidnappers must create chaos and intimidation through coercion and blindfolding of the captives, use of electric shocks and execution of any person who may pose a threat or distraction. The kidnappers were also instructed to use the captives as human shields if necessary. Herzog also said that in a method similar to the terrorist organization ISIS and as written in the manual, the terrorists were required to document their actions live, and during the IDF attacks to execute the captives.

During the investigation by the security forces, one of the terrorists said that the Hamas leadership had promised an apartment and a grant of ten thousand dollars to whoever would bring a hostage from Gaza, including the kidnapping of the elderly, women and children.

In an interview with the BBC on November 11, President Herzog claimed that there was an Arabic copy of the book Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler that IDF forces claimed to have found in a children's room in a house in Gaza that was used as a terrorist base. The contents of the book were marked with a marker and include notes in Arabic.

On November 14, President Herzog gave a speech at the Western Wall that was broadcast live to a pro-Israel demonstration in Washington, D.C. About half a million people participated in it.

On November 27, President Herzog took German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on a tour of Kibbutz Bari, which was severely damaged in the terrorist attack. Steinmeier promised that his country would contribute 7 million euros to the restoration of the Bari Gallery.

Israeli Prime Minister

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with many world leaders to mobilize international support for Israel and was in frequent contact with United States President Joe Biden. In addition, Netanyahu often gave interviews to foreign media networks to explain Israel's position and justify conflict and severe actions in the Gaza Strip. On November 27, Netanyahu hosted Elon Musk - one of the richest people in the world and the owner of the social network X (Twitter) - and gave him a tour of Gaza City, which was severely damaged following October 7, and showed him the horror film documenting the war crimes committed by Hamas. Afterwards, Musk met with President Isaac Herzog, Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana, and Minister Benny Gantz.

Ambassador of Israel to the UN

On October 26, in his speech at the UN General Assembly, Gilad Erdan, Israel's ambassador to the UN, presented the photo of the burned body of a paramedic who was murdered in Kibbutz Ari by Hamas. In his speech, he said: "It's not Auschwitz, it's Hamas." In addition, members of the Israeli delegation distributed to those present in the hall pages with a QR code to scan where they could view the atrocities that occurred on October 7.

On October 27, the Israeli Consulate in New York screened a film documenting the atrocities committed by Hamas in front of more than 20 presidents of media organizations, presenters and senior journalists from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal in addition to the media networks ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN. At the end of the screening, Ambassador Gilad Erdan gave a briefing to the journalists.

On October 31, the ambassador to the United Nations, Erdan, and the members of his delegation, appeared with a yellow patch for a discussion at the United Nations Security Council to protest the discourse against Israel, which avoided referring to the massacre committed by Hamas. The aims of the war and the chairman of the Yad Vashem board said that the patch symbolizes another time when there was no independent Jewish state with an army, responsible for its destiny.

On November 20, there was a screening of the "Horror Movie" at the UN in front of more than 300 ambassadors of the various countries to the UN, diplomats, senior UN officials, and heads of the Jewish community in New York. The UN Secretary General was not present at the screening, despite his presence being ordered by Erdan personally. At the beginning of the screening, Erdan said: "What is the point of the existence of the United Nations if, on International Children's Day, all discussions do not open with condemnation of Hamas, which is committing one of the most serious war crimes in history?".

On December 4, a protest event was held at the UN regarding the UN's ignoring of Hamas' crimes against women such as rape and sexual violence, and the neglect of Jewish women by the UN and women's organizations around the world. Evidence of Hamas' war crimes was presented at the event, and a video speech by Hillary Clinton was shown. The event was organized by Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in partnership with the National Council of Jewish Women in the United States (NCJW), the World Zionist Organization, the Hadassah Zionist Organization, and the Shusterman Foundation.

Ministry of Information

About a week after the outbreak of the war, the Israeli Ministry of Information was closed. The minister heading it, Galit Distel-Atbarian, was quoted as saying that "the Ministry of Information has been emptied of powers and is a waste of public money, and cannot make a significant contribution to the country."

Advocacy by public figures and celebrities

Many network influencers worked to explain Israel and justify its actions in the war on social networks and the Internet.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was often interviewed by foreign media networks, where he defended Israel and justified the extensive military response by presenting the brutality of Hamas, which he compared to Nazis. In addition, Bennett worked to encourage the people of Israel and raise morale among the soldiers and civilians, where he coined the catchphrase "We have a nation of lions".

Yoseph Haddad, an Arab-Israeli advocacy activist, had also given many interviews to foreign media and uploaded many videos to social networks in which he described the crimes committed by Hamas, and attacks the world for what he perceives as hypocrisy in its attitude towards Israel. Haddad also addressed the Palestinians directly in Arabic and called on them to rebel against Hamas and overthrow it.

Mosab Hassan Yousef, also known by the nicknames "The Green Prince" and "Son of Hamas", the son of a key Hamas operative who turned his back to the organization and helped the Shin Bet foil attacks during the Second Intifada, was often interviewed by the media all over the world in which he harshly attacked and condemned Hamas and its jihadist ideology.

The British author and journalist Douglas Murray supported Israel for its activities in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and other militant groups following the terrorist attack carried out on October 7. In television interviews in the UK, he ruled out the possibility of blaming Israel for the situation created in Gaza or any attempts to blame Israel for conducting a disproportionate response. He justified this by stating that in a war, the losing side usually has more casualties and that does not mean that they are the victim. Murray also came out against the pro-Palestinian and progressive protesters and activists who denied the atrocities committed by Hamas, and called it "real-time Holocaust denial".

Many Israeli and Jewish celebrities share advocacy content on social networks. Noa Tishby has been promoting Israeli propaganda for years, and during the war she managed to reach a relatively large target audience, mainly in the United States. The Jewish political commentator and influencer Ben Shapiro commented a lot on the subject of the war during his regular programs, in which he stood by Israel and worked on the issue of sharing pro-Israeli hasbara while also participating in several public debates. One of these was at the University of Oxford in Great Britain, where Shapiro confronted pro-Palestinian students by asserting the cruelty of Hamas and his refusal to follow "Palestinian propaganda". These videos have received millions of views and global influence.

Nathaniel Buzolic, an Australian actor best known for portraying the character of Cole Michaelson in the series "The Vampire Diaries" and its spin-off series, "The Originals", also was a public proponent of Israeli hasbara. The actor has 3.3 million followers (as of March 2024) and since the beginning of the war has been raising awareness on behalf of the State of Israel, and has even flown to Israel to show the world what is happening in the country.

Gal Gadot, an Israeli model, actress and producer best known for portraying the characters Gisele Yashar in the "Fast and Furious" movie series, Diana Prince / Wonder Woman in the movies "Wonder Woman" and "Wonder Woman 1984", made several efforts to show Hollywood the "Horror Movie" of the October 7 attacks.

Javier Milei, President of Argentina, had expressed a lot of support for Israel since the beginning of the war and visited the nation several times. Milei openly expressed himself as an enthusiastic supporter of Israel, stating that during his visit to Israel he planted a tree in Jerusalem. He fought for the promotion of the State of Israel, and even converted as a sign of support for Israel.

Eretz Nehederet sketches

Eretz Nehederet (Wonderful Land in English) released two skits mocking the BBC news channel for what it expressed as one-sided coverage against Israel and in particular for their report on the explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in which they blamed Israel, which resonated with several viewers in Britain and went viral. On November 14, "Eretz Nehederet" published another skit mocking the BBC, in which the presenter Rachel interviews Yahya Sanwar in a very sympathetic manner and, among other things, accuses an Israeli baby who was kidnapped by Hamas and cries in the background of sleep deprivation torture against Sinwar, who is holding him. At the end of the interview, Rachel turns to the BBC's "Moment in History" corner and there, next to pictures from World War II, the narration is heard: "In 1944 Winston Churchill refused a cease-fire and continued the genocide of Nazi Germany - which turned the Germans into victims - and Britain into a war criminal."

On November 5, 2023, "Eretz Nehederet" aired a skit mocking the "Woke" culture and its supposed support for Hamas on university campuses in the United States, showing two queer hipster activists from the "Queers for Palestine" movement at Columbia University who bow down to a Hamas operative who speaks openly about his desire to murder Jews and LGBT people. In another sketch, Greta Tunberry is seen with friends waving signs in support of Hamas - LGBT and Jewish, and a "Smurf" who displays a sign that says "supports Gargamel".

In December 2023, "Eretz Nehederet" aired a skit in English with the participation of Michael Rapaport mocking the presidents of the elite universities by hearing that Albus Dumbledore conducts for three professors at Hogwarts who expressed support for the "genocide of Botshams" and after being told that it was because of a lot of money from the Qatari state, he also joins. In the second skit, a video clip was shown in which the leaders of Hamas sing as they spend millions of dollars in Qatar on luxury following the skit opening where a crying Palestinian actress asks for donations to Gaza, with all the money goes to the leaders of Hamas in Qatar.

Advocacy by citizens

A demonstration of support for Israel and a call for the return of the abductees at Parliament Square in London.

Many Israelis worked during the war to explain and justify Israel's actions, especially on social networks. They spread war crimes and civilian attacks committed by Hamas, with many establishing civilian headquarters for the sake of disseminating Israeli hasbara. Israeli media outlets publish content in foreign languages ​​to promote Israeli advocacy. Kan 11 published a series of videos in English, Spanish, Persian, and Arabic. Israeli news site Mako worked online on the outreach effort on its Instagram account. Videos have been circulated around the internet encouraging and explaining how to join this front, with many private individuals taking responsibility to spread pro-Israel hasbara while publicly criticizing the contrasting discourse.

Following the war, a number of civilian information headquarters were established. The Civil Information Headquarters headed by Eliav Batito conducted many hasbara activities that include, among other things, documentation, distribution, translation, fact-checking, and positive news. Veteran organizations also joined the informational struggle. StandWithUs is an international pro-Israel advocacy organization that created several videos, infographics, and other content for distribution on social networks. The Israelize association held online seminars designed to train the public for advocacy. The Deployact organization began training programs for the student population and reservists to participate in hasbara missions around the world. A delegation from the organization, which visited the International Court of Justice in The Hague, was widely covered in the Israeli and international media.

The argument raised against the effectiveness of the private initiatives is that the algorithms of the social networks result in the majority of the target audience exposed to the content being Israelis themselves, with only a few percent of the viewers of the content living outside of Israel.

Civil Information Headquarters

Offices of the Civil Information Headquarters

The Civil Advocacy Headquarters (in English: Israeli Spirit) is a non-profit pro-Israel advocacy organization that was established in Israel after the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The organization was established by a group of volunteers with the aim of creating broad awareness of Israel in Israel and around the world, while fighting the increasing rates of antisemitism around the world.

Within a few hours of the spontaneously created organization's beginning, close to 30,000 members joined the distribution pool. As a result, the need arose for content in a variety of languages ​​that would be adapted to a variety of platforms. About three thousand volunteers joined to operate the array in various roles: interpreters, creative and content creators, video editors and graphic artists, research and production workers, psychologists, and social workers. In addition, about 30 technological collaborations with start-up and high-tech companies were mobilized for the organization.

Hanania Naftali posted a video on Facebook and on X (Twitter) in Malay / Indonesian in his character and voice on a background of photographs that correspond to his ideas, with a written translation in English. The film was watched in Malacca by Kenny Ong who asked an Israeli friend who spoke the language, who became aware of the matter at about the same time: "Does Hananya Naftali understand Malay?" It turns out that the language is ringing in Hanania Naftali's mouth, and the video is a successful propaganda, and the video was also distributed by the Israeli listener. Another video by Hanania Naftali addresses the residents of Malaysia in English.

#HamasIsISIS

Graffiti in Kiryat al-Malakha, Tel Aviv that states "Hamas = ISIS"

Ella Kenan, who works as a travel blogger, came up with the hashtag "#HamasIsISIS" at the beginning of the war, and asked her 200,000 followers to spread it. In the weeks after the start of the attack, the hashtag became one of the most popular in Israel on the Twitter/X network, and many used it along with associated graphic material to promote Israeli propaganda, for example to respond to Greta Thunberg's support for Gaza. Another hashtag that started to become common during October 2023 is "#TheWestIsNext" directed to the Western world, claiming that Hamas does not limit its goals only against the State of Israel, and that Israel is actually fighting to protect the entire Western world.

During Keenan's advocacy activity, her tweets reached, among others, Ahmed Taha, an influencer from the United Arab Emirates with close to half a million followers, and the founding partner of Salesforce and the owner of Time magazine, Marc Benioff. The message promoted by Kenan that Hamas is like ISIS was also included in the speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in the speech of the President of the United States Joe Biden.

"Kidnapped from Israel" signs

Main article: Kidnapped from Israel

Posters of hostages taken by Hamas during the Israel-Hamas war, taken in Los Angeles.

The "Kidnapped from Israel" campaign began as an initiative of the duo of artists "Deda" and Nitzan Mintz together in in a residency program in New York and in collaboration with the Israeli designer Tal Hoover. The campaign, which shows the faces of several dozen of the civilians and soldiers kidnapped by Hamas is based on the missing persons notice format known to the public in the United States. The signs were initially distributed by the artists themselves and the Israeli community in New York, but in a short period of time, it became an outdoor campaign distributed around the world. The signs were placed mainly on walls, barriers, fences, and railings. Each sign refers to one of many abductees who were currently being held in the Gaza Strip. At the top of the sign is written "Kidnapped", in the center is a large photo of the abductee and at the bottom is his name and age, and below them is the hashtag "#NeverJustified" and "Never Justified" (referring to the kidnapping of civilians).

The distribution and hanging of the signs led to lively discussion and uproar around the world. More than once, pro-Palestinian activists around the world were seen ripping off the ads, which also led to many verbal confrontations captured on video and shared through social media and news platforms.

Hostages and Missing Families Forum

Main article: Hostages and Missing Families Forum

The evening after the surprise attack, the families of the abductees and the missing held a press conference, in which they demanded that the Israeli government open a regular dialogue with the families, appoint a person responsible for these affairs, hold an operation aimed at returning the missing to Israel, and push for the immediate involvement of Arab leaders in the world with the aim of freeing the captives. The government appointed Gal Hirsch to be responsible for the matter.

Later, the headquarters published three demands:

1. Immediate release of all the hostages, since their holding is contrary to international law, in which it is defined as a war crime and a crime against humanity.
2. Immediate opening of a humanitarian corridor to supply medicine and necessary equipment to the chronically ill and injured hostages, as well as arranging an examination of all hostages by a doctor.
3. Intervention and assistance of the leaders of the neighboring countries in favor of the immediate release of the kidnapped hostages.

Operations

On October 18, representatives of the families of the abductees met with the President of the United States Joe Biden, who made a special visit to Israel in the midst of the war. Biden stated that the United States fully supports Israel and is working for the release of the abductees, and that it will contribute as much of its resources as is required to accomplish this goal. On October 24, a delegation from the headquarters of the families of the abductees arrived at the UN Security Council discussion regarding the Israel–Hamas war. The parents of Omar Neutra, who was abducted to Gaza, spoke at the Security Council hearing and demanded that the UN act to return the abductees following them stating that the UN refused to act against Hamas. The next day, after Queen Rania of Jordan denied the beheading of civilians by the terrorists of the military wing of Hamas. In response, headquarters sent her a link to a coded website that includes videos of beheadings, burning of bodies and abuse of civilians by troops.

Key issues for hasbara

Hamas use of civilians as human shields

Main article: Use of human shields by Hamas

Shifa Hospital

Main article: Alleged military use of al-Shifa hospital

On October 27, 2023, in a briefing to the foreign media, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari revealed intelligence information that reportedly proved that Hamas had located its main headquarters and many other terrorist infrastructures— including an additional central headquarters, a network of tunnels for military operations, shelters for senior Hamas officials, IML warehouses, and Management centers of rocket fire— under al-Shifa Hospital in the heart of Gaza City in order to use the hospital as a human shield and to prevent IDF attacks on terrorist infrastructure and senior Hamas officials. The information was also passed on to the intelligence organizations of Israel's allies.

On November 6, 2023, a commentator on the Saudi Al-Arabiya network said that the command center of Hamas was located under Shifa Hospital, thereby accepting or confirming the words of the IDF. On November 15, 2023, IDF special forces raided Shifa Hospital and stated that they had uncovered weapons, technological equipment, and Hamas command rooms. They further asserted that photos of the Israeli abductees were found on computers seized in the raid. On November 16, an IDF spokesman claimed that a Hamas van full of weapons and intended for the terrorist attack on October 7 was located in the Shifa Hospital complex. Tunnel shafts, underground infrastructure, weapons and intelligence information were also said to have been located in the hospital. On November 19, combat engineering forces, Yahalom and Oketz uncovered a Hamas tunnel under Shifa Hospital. One of the tunnels was 10 meters deep and 55 meters long, where one of the entrances was blocked by an armored door with a bullet hole. That evening, the IDF spokesman presented photos from security cameras from Shifa Hospital that showed armed Hamas troops taking civilians who were kidnapped on October 7 into there. He also claimed that Hamas terrorists murdered the abductee Noa Marciano inside Shifa Hospital. On November 22, the IDF spokesman published documentation of the tunnels and basements that were uncovered under the Qatari building at Shifa Hospital. In addition, he let the media accompany them on a tour, photograph them themselves and report them to the public.

Hamas' use of hospitals

An Israeli Defense Forces aerial photograph of Shifa Hospital and Hamas headquarters it claims are below it, marked in red

On November 13, 2023, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari, together with Shayetet 13 and accompanied by foreign reporters with cameras, raided the Rantisi hospital in Gaza, which was evacuated before the raid. He presented photographs from the hospital that showed Hamas use for militant purposes stated that it was possible that hostage children were held there. The photographs showed tunnel shafts, a motorcycle used by the kidnappers, documents with Hamas guard duty records, a basement with equipment for a long stay, including electricity (stolen from the hospital), ventilation, a kitchen and toilets, weapons, an explosive belt, and ammunition found among the patients. In December 2023, the forces of Yahalom, Shayetet 13, and TKS 14 uncovered a long and branching network of terrorist tunnels under the Al-Rantisi hospital, containing many strategic Hamas infrastructure and shafts. The tunnel connected the hospital to several areas throughout Gaza. On December 27, 2023, after the mapping of the tunnels by the Yehalom fighters, the forces of the Combat Engineering Corps blew up the terrorist tunnels.

On November 14, John Kirby, head of the National Security Council of the United States, said that the United States had intelligence that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were using hospitals for terrorist purposes and held and, at the time, likely still held hostages kidnapped in the October 7th terrorist attack.

On November 1, 2023, the IDF revealed a conversation which purportedly recorded how Hamas stole 1,000 liters of fuel from a hospital.

Testimonies of Hamas operatives

On November 8, 2023, Israel revealed recorded conversations of purported Hamas testimony from investigations which contain Hamas operatives admitted that they use ambulances for terrorist purposes, smuggling weapons and explosives, and the movement of Hamas operatives - including senior officials - knowing that "the IDF does not shoot at ambulances". In addition, the terrorists admitted to storing ammunition and artillery rockets in schools.

On December 19, 2023, the Shin Bet investigation documentation of Ahmed Kahlot, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabaliya, was published. Kahlot stated that Hamas recruited him to a position equivalent to a lieutenant colonel and turned the hospitals in the Gaza Strip into military facilities and terrorist infrastructure, where senior Hamas officials were hiding. In addition, some of the hospital employees and medical staff were Hamas operatives, and Hamas operated private ambulances to smuggle senior officials and hostages.

Disclosure of weapons in educational institutions

During the fighting in the Gaza Strip, IDF forces stated numerous times that they found many weapons and ammunition, including artillery rockets, which were stored or hidden in educational institutions, schools, and kindergartens. The exposures were documented by operational documentation fighters of the IDF spokesperson and also by media outlets that accompanied the fighters. On November 16, the IDF stated that they found rockets and an anti-tank missile inside a girl's bed and a baby carriage. On November 17, an IDF force reported that they located a cache of mortar bombs inside a kindergarten. On December 2, IDF forces stated that they had uncovered thirty Grad rockets along with anti-aircraft guns and large amounts of ammunition, hidden under UNRWA boxes.

Silence of women's organizations regarding sexual violence against Israeli women

See also: Sexual and gender-based violence in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel

In the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists carried out sexual assaults and sexual abuse on a large scale against Israeli women, girls and men. Organizations and activities and activists for women's rights in the world— international women's organizations, organizations against sexual assault, feminist activities, and the United Nations Organization for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women— remained silent in the face of the actions of Hamas, many of them refused to condemn it and some even denied the actions of Hamas and claimed that these were Israeli claims that were not proved.

In protest of this, over 150 Israeli and international women's organizations published a letter in which they attacked the organizations ignoring the actions: "It is unthinkable that a UN agency responsible for women's rights ignores the abduction of women, babies, girls, children and men from their homes, committing crimes war against women, children and girls, and the murder of over a thousand innocent civilians". In addition to advocacy activities, they organized a campaign against the United Nations Organization for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women, and the hashtag "#MeTooUnlessURaJew" was created (which is based on the MeToo campaign against sexual violence against women). Many women demonstrated in front of the UN headquarters, and prepared a performance that included women dressed in bloody leotards. Some of the demonstrations were organized by Alternative Builders.

In the end, about two months after the events, the United Nations Organization for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women published a condemnation of Hamas's actions, but it was criticized— among others by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan— that it was too weak and came too late for it to appear as anything but a mandatory, minimum concern statement.

On December 4, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, in cooperation with the World Zionist Organization, the Hadassah Zionist Organization, and other Jewish organizations, organized a protest event against the silence of the United Nations and the neglect of the women harmed by Hamas. Testimonies and evidence of Hamas crimes were presented at the event with many diplomats participating.

Misinformation and criticism

Main article: Misinformation in the Israel–Hamas war

Israel has released several pieces of incorrect or unverified information, leading to questions about its credibility. Much of the content has been viral in nature, with tens of millions of posts in circulation on social media. A variety of sources, including government officials, media outlets, and social media influencers across different countries, have contributed to the spread of these inaccuracies.

Writing for openDemocracy, British academic Paul Rogers stated, "Israel must maintain the pretence of an orderly war with few civilians killed. Netanyahu's government is lying, but it would be naive to expect otherwise. Lying is what many powerful states routinely do, particularly in wartime." In The Intercept, investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill wrote, "At the center of Israel's information warfare campaign is a tactical mission to dehumanize Palestinians and to flood the public discourse with a stream of false, unsubstantiated, and unverifiable allegations."

Denial of IDF actions

In December 2023, an analysis by The Washington Post confirmed reports by Human Rights Watch that Israel had used white phosphorus in an attack on Lebanon, directly contradicting the IDF. In January 2024, after an Israeli airstrike killed journalist Hamza Dahdouh, the IDF called Dahdouh a "suspect" who was hit while driving with a "terrorist"; however, The Washington Post found "no indications that either man was operating as anything other than a journalist that day".

After reports spread that a mother and daughter were killed by Israeli snipers in December 2023 in a church where a number of Palestinian Christians sheltered, the Israeli army denied targerting the compound, but claimed instead there was Hamas activity in its vicinity and Israeli soldiers shot back. Catholic officials and Member of British Parliament Layla Moran, who maintained contact with refugees in the church, stated, on the contrary, that no Palestinian belligerents were in the area and that the two women had been killed by the Israeli army, who were the ones preventing the refugees from leaving.

The Israeli army also denied responsibility for the killing of 5-year-old Hind Rajab, her family and the Palestine Red Crescent Society paramedics sent to rescue her, saying that their forces were not in firing range on the day of the girl's death. However, both Al Jazeera and The Washington Post concluded, based on investigation of satellite imagery, that Israeli armored vehicles were indeed in the area at the time.

In regards to the March 2024 Flour massacre, a CNN investigation said that "Mark Regev, the Israeli prime minister’s special adviser, initially told CNN that Israeli forces had not been involved." However the IDF said soon after that "soldiers had not fired directly on Palestinians seeking aid, but rather fired “warning shots” in the air."

False and unverified accusations of Hamas actions

After bombing a tent camp in Rafah in an area that Israel had designated as a "safe zone" for civilians, killing 45 people, Israeli officials initially told their American counterparts that they believed their airstrike ignited a nearby fuel tank, creating a large fire. James Cavanaugh, who worked at the ATF, said the fire did not indicate "some giant stash that exploded." The New York Times viewed numerous videos and did not find evidence that a significant secondary explosion was ignited.

Healthcare

In October 2023, shortly after the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion, Israeli sources published audio purporting to show two Hamas militants in a phone call claiming responsibility for the act and blaming it on a malfunctioning rocket. Hamas claimed the recording was an "obvious fabrication", and the British Channel 4 interviewed two independent Arab journalists who expressed similar views.

In November 2023, a video posted by the IDF showed Daniel Hagari, inside the Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital, where he claimed that the IDF had found Hamas weapons and technology, as well as a "list of terrorist names" in Arabic with the title "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood", showing each agents' rota guarding the hostages. However, a translation of the document showed that it contained no names but instead a calendar of the days of the week. After the questioning of the veracity of the claim, an Israeli spokesperson backtracked, but CNN, while removing the segment, did not provide an editors' note acknowledging the change or the dispute over the initial video.

In December 2023, Israel stated there was a Hamas tunnel network connected to the Al-Shifa Hospital; however, a report by The Washington Post found "There is no evidence that the tunnels could be accessed from inside hospital wards". That same month, Israel claimed 12 UNRWA staff members had participated in the 7 October attack on Israel; however, the Financial Times, Sky News, and Channel 4 all stated that Israel's claims were not proven by the intelligence documents they reviewed. In February 2024, the IDF stated Hamas was stealing humanitarian aid, leading David M. Satterfield, a senior U.S. envoy, to say there was no evidence to support Israel's claims.

Beheadings

Members of ZAKA including Otmazgin and Simcha Greiniman claimed to have photos depicting genital mutilation, including nails and knives inserted into the groin and genitals. These were shared with the UN's Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten's fact-finding mission, as well as NBC News. Both concluded these claims could not be verified based on the provided photos. Israeli soldiers, the Israeli Forces, and the first responder Israeli organization ZAKA said on French Israeli TV channel i24news that they had seen the bodies of beheaded infants at the site of the Kfar Aza massacre. This claim was repeated by U.S. President Biden separately, who stated that he had seen photographic evidence of terrorists beheading children. NBC News called reports of "40 beheaded babies" unverified allegations, adding that they appeared "to have originated from Israeli soldiers and people affiliated with the Israel Defense Force" and that "an Israeli official told CNN the government had not confirmed claims of the beheadings". The allegation mainly "stemmed from a viral Israeli news broadcast clip" and the main X / Twitter accounts propagating the claims were i24NEWS and Israel's official account, even though Israeli Defense spokesperson Doron Spielman told NBC News that he could not confirm i24NEWS's report.

In a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition on 28 October, Eli Beer, founder of Israeli volunteer EMS group United Hatzalah, claimed that Hamas had burned a baby alive in an oven, with many journalists sharing the claim in tweets seen over 10 million times. Israeli journalists and police found no evidence for the claim, and a representative of ZAKA, a first responder organization, said the claim was "false".

On 4 December 2023, Haaretz reported on Israeli claims about beheaded babies, stating that these "unverified stories [had been] disseminated by Israeli search and rescue groups, army officers and even Sara Netanyahu".

Sexual violence

The AP reported that two ZAKA volunteers, including its commander Chaim Otmazgin, made false statements about sexual violence and rape on October 7. Otmazgin claimed he found a raped woman due to her pants having been pulled down below her waist. He showed photos to the AP as part of his testimony. However, this had been caused by her body being moved by a group of soldiers. Yossi Landau, another ZAKA volunteer, claimed he found a pregnant woman killed with a fetus removed from her womb. This was also proven to be false. When challenged, Landau offered to show Al Jazeera a photo on his phone of the stabbed foetus, but is filmed admitting he is unable to do so.

Reactions

United Nations (UN) Director-General Antonio Guterres has accused Israel of spreading misinformation about the war in Gaza in an attempt to lower the credibility of the UN. Speaking about Israel's decision not to allow foreign journalists into Gaza, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres stated, "Denying international journalists entry into Gaza is allowing disinformation and false narratives to flourish." The technology director of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue stated, "The corrosion of the information landscape is undermining the ability of audiences to distinguish truth from falsehood on a terrible scale."

See also

• Hasbara Fellowships
• HonestReporting
• Jewish Internet Defense Force
• Public diplomacy of Israel
• Media coverage of the Israel–Hamas war