Persistent and Growing List of Lies about Israel

While Israel slowly makes its way through Rafah, trying to assuage the international community with its promises to try not to kill civilians, the list of lies promulgated by outsiders and Israel's enemies about their efforts continues to grow. Some of the lies are outrageous; others are bewildering and conflicting. But since the public is experiencing a great deal of confusion about what is happening, I thought I’d write about the worst lies and how they are being managed (or not). It’s also worthwhile to assess whether these lies affect Israel’s running of the war.

The first lie I decided to focus on was the accusations of genocide. South Africa, as ardent supporters of Hamas, made the charge to the International Court of Justice, only recently joined by Spain, a country that has demonstrated its hatred of Israel. Spain also recently declared its support of the Palestinians to be given an independent state.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, presented her report to UN member states regarding her assessment of Israel’s committing genocide:

Genocide is a specific legal term, and Ms. Albanese's report suggests some of the legal criteria have been fulfilled. She cites what she says appears to be Israel's intention to destroy Palestinians as a group "in whole or in part", a key clause in the Convention against Genocide. She mentions in particular three elements which point to possible genocide:

• Killing members of the group
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

The death toll in Gaza, currently well over 32,000 according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, the bombing of densely populated areas, and the restrictions on aid supplies (which, the UN says, have brought Gaza to the brink of famine), are all proof, the report claims, of intent to destroy the group.

She insists that Israel is trying to destroy the Palestinians, and yet the three bullet points highlighted above suggest these elements point to “possible genocide.” Nowhere has Israel stated that it is trying to destroy the Palestinian people, but rather only the aggressors who began this war: Hamas.

I guess Ms. Albanese is unsure.

Trying to starve Palestinian civilians was the second lie I decided to address:

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court accuses Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of violating a law against ‘intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.’ The statute requires a proof of intent, and the facts disprove the accusation.

A study was also conducted by a group of Israeli nutritionists, who state that more food is being distributed now than before the war:

The study revealed that the supply provided an average of 3,374 calories per person daily, well above the 2,100 recommended by the Sphere humanitarian movement as the minimum standard. It also confirms the daily availability of 101 grams of protein and 80.6 grams of fat per person, in compliance with the standards.

In addition, Hamas has made efforts to hijack food and materials for its own military.

Another fabrication I wanted to address is the inconsistency in the death toll numbers:

On May 6, the U.N. agency published the Gaza government media office’s latest estimate that 14,500 children and 9,500 women had been killed. Two days later, OCHA reported a much lower number of Palestinian women and children killed in the conflict based on those who the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health claimed had been specifically identified by name. The new figures were 7,797 children and 4,959 women killed and subsequently identified. OCHA did not change its overall estimate that more than 34,900 Palestinians have died. That larger total includes both those whose identities have been confirmed, and an estimate that 10,000 additional dead are missing and have not been accounted for.

Since every international body uses these numbers in their assessments of the war, it should be incumbent upon the reporting organization to ensure their numbers are as close to accurate as possible, particularly since other countries are making demands on Israel based on those figures. It appears that accuracy is not a priority. Some authorities say that Netanyahu has slowed down the war effort to comply with Biden’s demands.

The next lie is the accusation of war crimes by the International Criminal Court against Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, along with three Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar. The Court misjudged the reaction of the Israeli people if it expected Netanyahu to be rejected by them:

Nadav Shtrauchler, a former campaign strategist for Netanyahu, told POLITICO that Khan’s statement would only help his former boss by forcing opposition politicians and critics to rally to his defense. Most Israelis will view Khan as targeting Israel and not just Netanyahu, he warned. ‘People don’t see this as something that’s just against Netanyahu — it is against the state and its defense,’ he said.

I wanted to address the bombing of a Gazan school as the last lie I will discuss:

Israel hit a Gaza school on Thursday with what it described as a targeted airstrike on up to 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters inside, and a Hamas official said 40 people were killed including women and children sheltering at the U.N. site. ‘We're very confident in the intelligence,’ military spokesperson Lt Col. Peter Lerner said, accusing Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters of deliberately using U.N. facilities as operational bases.

The reason I included this last example is that it’s representative of how Hamas and the Palestinians, as well as the U.N., conduct themselves. Hamas has stored armaments in schools for many years. They have used the Palestinians as shields. They have no reservations about telling lies about the enemy (Israel); this is supported by their belief in taqqiya, their commitment to protect the faith. They have little interest in protecting or saving civilians. They have no interest in peace. They are determined to destroy Israel and its people, whatever the cost.

Some things never change.

Why the international community thinks the Palestinians or Hamas will change their attitudes is wishful thinking.