Gaza Terrorist Spokesperson Reveals How Media Falls for Terror Group’s Lies

When Pinocchio lied, his nose grew longer. His falsehoods were too obvious to be ignored.

But media outlets barely raised an eyebrow after a Big Lie was exposed last week, perhaps because it also exposed them as wooden marionettes.

On Monday, April 8, it was revealed that Gaza terror organizations have been deliberately spreading false narratives on the Israel-Hamas war, and that international media outlets have been playing an unwitting, or even willing, role in enabling this mass manipulation.

Unsurprisingly, the foreign press ignored the exposure, even though everyone received the announcement distributed by the IDF.

Israel released a video that showed the interrogation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesperson, Tariq Salami Otha Abu Shlouf, who had been captured during the IDF’s recent raid on Gaza’s Shifa hospital.

During his conversation with the interrogator, which amounts to an incriminating account concerning news coverage of Gaza, Abu Shlouf reveals how the well-oiled media manipulation machine of Islamic Jihad and Hamas operates:

1. Top figures in the group decide on a beneficial narrative, such as focusing on the humanitarian angle rather than the military one.
2. The message is circulated to news outlets.
3. Reporters uncritically echo what the terror group says, to avoid harming ties with sources.

The chilling testimony of an Islamic Jihad spox revealed how terrorist orgs manipulated the media to blame Israel for acts it did not do in this war.

It’s a day after the IDF released the testimony & neither @AP nor @Reuters have mentioned him at all. pic.twitter.com/eKT3IXeR5b

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) April 9, 2024

Abu Shlouf references the Al-Ahli hospital incident as an example: he admits his group decided to falsely blame Israel for the deadly strike, in order to erase the fact it had been caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket — a fact known to local reporters.

He also tells the interrogator how the “humanitarian angle” is being pushed to pliant reporters, with specific messages fed to international news outlets:

Abu Shlouf: The international media differs from the Arab ones, they focus on humanitarian issues, we don’t speak to them in the language of violence, destruction, and revenge. They come and say “let’s talk for a minute or two, but only talk to me about the humanitarian side, meaning, for instance, you’d say “it’s our right to live,” “we want the situation to return to normal, and our children to live like other children in the world,” “we have the right to receive capabilities and institutions.” This is the humanitarian side. And the other side, some of the international media organizations automatically address events like al-Ahli, when an event happens, they turn to us.

He adds that terrorist officials even vet news stories before publication. And he describes how “interviews” are conducted with international media reporters:

Abu Shlouf: They like to do interviews with figures from the political bureau, senior figures, like Khaled al-Batsh. There were a few international media outlets that conducted interviews with him. He sits with someone, then the journalist starts asking him questions, because it’s under the table, the humanitarian situation doesn’t interest the journalist. Only three things interest him: was the fallen rocket yours? Khaled al-Batsh, of course, answers him “No, it’s from the occupation.” Of course, the journalist knows that the rocket is indeed ours and not yours.

Interrogator: Even though the journalist knows, does he still echo what is said by the organization [Islamic Jihad]?

Abu Shlouf: Yes, because they ask him to review the article before publication, telling him to send it to us before he can publish it so we can review it.

Interrogator: And if it’s not to your liking, it doesn’t get published?

Abu Shlouf: No, of course not, because he [the journalist] needs us for more interviews.

Media outlets might argue that Abu Shlouf’s account as an IDF prisoner had been given under duress. But it seems — even with the video cuts — that rather than giving short answers, he willingly provided elaborate details and names. And that also suggests it’s true.

The foreign press can also argue that what he said about al-Ahli and terrorists’ use of hospitals and ambulances isn’t new. But that’s why it may be even more incriminating, as further proof that Gaza reporters have most likely known about it all along and kept silent.

The unavoidable conclusion from Abu Shlouf’s account is this: People in his position are constantly contacted by foreign press reporters to quote data, request interviews, and get reactions. So the editorial line on Gaza news is not being decided by the local reporter or his/her editors in Jerusalem or London. It first passes through the terrorists’ filter.

Is this not worth reporting? Don’t news consumers deserve to know the truth?

These questions are important because media outlets have published many stories focused on their Gaza reporters throughout the war — from their personal safety concerns to their electricity challenges. But when it now comes to focusing on the actual work they do, the media silence is deafening.

This is also defining the foreign press’ inability to carry out any self-reflection. If they care so much about the truth they purport to pursue, these media outlets ought to be the first to acknowledge that a huge shadow of doubt has just been cast on the professionalism of every reporter in the Hamas-run Strip. And it also hovers over their vetting procedures of new hires in Gaza.

HonestReporting has questioned the journalistic ethics of Gazan reporters since the beginning of the war. We exposed how some of them infiltrated into Israel with Hamas on October 7, as hundreds of Israelis were slaughtered.

Now, when it’s become even clearer that everything we see and read from Gaza is being manipulated by terrorist propagandists, it’s time for a media reckoning.

Pinocchio managed to transform into a responsible human being.

Why can’t journalists covering Gaza see who is pulling their strings, and do the same?

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.