Palestinians pass by the gate of an UNRWA-run school in Nablus in the West Bank. Photo: Reuters/Abed Omar Qusini.

Early on Thursday, June 6, the IDF announced that it had targeted Hamas terrorists inside an UNRWA school in Gaza.

But media outlets reframed the incident by omitting the terrorists’ presence, and emphasizing the number of casualties of the Israeli airstrike, making Israel look like it deliberately attacked innocent schoolchildren.

🔴Eliminated: several Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who embedded themselves inside of an @UNRWA school.

IAF fighter jets conducted a precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside the school in the area of Nuseirat. These terrorists belonged to the Nukhba Forces and… pic.twitter.com/2AX28twfVs

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 6, 2024

In fact, Israel said the eliminated terrorists had taken part in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel, and exploited the school to launch more attacks against Israeli troops.

By ignoring or burying this fact to focus on the plight of innocent victims, media outlets provided the exact kind of coverage that Hamas hopes for when its terrorists use civilians as human shields.

Omitting the Terrorists

CNN’s headline, for example, parroted Hamas and omitted the Israeli claim about the presence of terrorists (which is mentioned only in the 5th paragraph):

Axios did the same, shamelessly leading with data from the “Hamas-controlled Gaza government press office,” and burying Israel’s statement about the terrorists in the fourth paragraph (which many readers don’t get to):

BBC and Voice of America’s headlines also ignored the terrorists.

And while TIME Magazine and The Guardian mentioned Israel’s targeting of terrorists high up in their stories, their headlines ignored it. Interestingly, TIME‘s editor chose a long headline with descriptive details about children and shelter, so it clearly wasn’t an issue of space:

Sky News’ tweet caption on the incident sounded like it came from a Hamas propaganda channel: “An Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza has killed dozens of people, including children, local officials say.”

An Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza has killed dozens of people, including children, local officials say.@alexrossiSKY has the latest.

More: https://t.co/GWardzBnJy

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/vc5uDpanSf

— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 6, 2024

Ignoring the Facts

Surprisingly, the wire services — which provide news to the outlets mentioned above — got it right.

Reuters’ headline read: “Dozens reported killed in strike on Gaza school that Israel says targeted Hamas.”

And the AP’s headline was: “Israeli strike kills at least 33 people at a Gaza school the military claims was being used by Hamas.”

Why didn’t other media outlets follow suit? Why did editors and writers choose to dance to Hamas’ tune?

These questions are particularly important in light of mounting evidence that Hamas has been systematically using UNRWA schools for terror purposes — including launching an anti-tank missile at Israeli troops last week.

Yet, virtually no media have touched this issue by reporting the Hamas abuses of facilities such as schools to carry out military operations. It’s only when Israel responds by striking these targets (which become legitimate military targets under international law by virtue of the presence of terrorists within) that makes headline news.

Ignoring the facts serves Hamas. And news consumers deserve better than being fed terrorist propaganda.

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.