Voice of America’s Gaza War Recap Omits Vital Context

To mark six months of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Voice of America (VOA) released a three-minute video chronicling the effect that the war has had in both Israel and Gaza.

However, rather than provide its audience with a comprehensive overview of the war in Gaza, VOA produced a report that omitted a fair amount of context, ultimately leaving it heavily one-sided and uninformative.

The video report begins with recent Israeli protests calling for new elections, a hostage deal, and the ouster of the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Meanwhile, there have been no protests in Gaza to Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7. In fact, Hamas still has the support of the vast majority of Gazans.

In its coverage of the anti-Netanyahu protests, VOA claims that the Israeli government has been unable “so far to secure the release of hostages captured on October 7.”

This statement omits the fact that, in November 2023, more than 100 hostages were released during a temporary ceasefire in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

This claim also makes it appear that the onus lies with Israel when, in fact, Israel has agreed to several deals that would see the release of more hostages from Hamas captivity, all of which have been rejected by the leadership of the Gaza-based terror group.

After profiling the Israeli protest movement, VOA then turns its attention to Gaza.

The report quotes the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, alleging that “more than 33,000 Palestinians” have been killed by Israel during the war.

However, the report fails to qualify this statistic with the vital context that the Gaza Ministry of Health does not differentiate between civilians and combatants — and that all the numbers are unverified. Hamas has even said it can’t provide full details for its claims.

Similarly, the report goes on to claim that “Israel’s widespread aerial attacks have leveled much of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza, creating a humanitarian crisis.”

This point is reiterated later on by World Central Kitchen head José Andrés, who is quoted as saying that Israel is “destroying every building, every hospital, every school, every university.”

Aside from these allegations being exaggerations of the reality on the ground, what is missing from this picture is the necessary understanding that Israel is combating Hamas’ terror infrastructure, which is purposefully embedded in civilian areas.

Further on in this video report, VOA claims that Netanyahu “remains steadfast in ignoring international calls for a humanitarian ceasefire until Hamas releases all hostages held,” later adding that “publicly, there remains no plan for an immediate ceasefire, hostage release or an end to hostilities.”

As mentioned earlier, these statements ignore the fact that Israel has okayed hostage agreements (including temporary ceasefires) that have been rejected by Hamas. Israel has also agreed to a ceasefire as part of an agreement in which the hostages are released in stages.

Aside from the fact that some of the main allegations made in this video report are missing a proper context, another issue with this overall report is the lack of focus on how the war has affected Israel.

Despite being titled “Israel marks 6 months since deadly Hamas attack,” the report is silent on the deadly cost of the war for Israeli society, the fact that Hamas and Hezbollah are still firing rockets at Israeli civilian centers in both the north and south, and the fact that there are still tens of thousands of internally displaced Israelis who are unable to return to their homes.

Israel has agreed in hostage negotiations in Egypt to concessions about the return of Palestinians to the north of Gaza, but believes Hamas does not want to strike a deal, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.https://t.co/J3vwyyOf25

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) April 10, 2024

If VOA truly wanted to provide its audience with a complete picture of the war between Israel and Hamas six months in, it would need to add more context to its allegations and provide a broader picture of the war, not just those aspects that can be used to besmirch Israel’s image.

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.