Teenage hostages before Oct. 7 and after their capture by Hamas to Gaza. Photo: Screenshot from Israeli government X/Twitter account

Everything about the spectacle reeked of choreography: the green military-style uniforms forced upon them, the framed certificates they were compelled to hold aloft like unwilling contest winners, and the stage constructed for no other reason than to parade captives in front of the cameras.

This wasn’t just a release of hostages; it was a grotesque theater performance: Hamas’ carefully crafted attempt to project an image of power while simultaneously masquerading as benevolent.

The four young Israeli women — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag — soldiers kidnapped from the Nahal Oz army base in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 — were the reluctant stars of this PR charade.

And yet, somehow, some in the media managed to accept this sham whole. They didn’t just cover the hostage parade; they gave it legitimacy as if parading captives before the world wasn’t an affront to the very humanity Hamas so desperately wants to feign.

The BBC, for example, falsely claimed during a live report showing Hamas’ sickening PR stunt that the Israeli hostages were wearing the same IDF uniforms they had been kidnapped in. This, of course, was a blatant misrepresentation. As even Hamas’ own wealth of body camera footage from October 7 makes chillingly clear, the four were abducted from their beds and paraded through Gaza’s streets in bloodied pajamas and underwear — not military fatigues.

On multiple occasions, @BBCNews bought into the propaganda of Hamas’ staged hostage release, falsely claiming the four Israelis were wearing IDF uniforms they were dressed in on Oct. 7.

They were kidnapped in their pajamas & those uniforms on display in Gaza are not theirs. pic.twitter.com/S1OxcAfTZB

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 26, 2025

The truth behind Hamas’ choice to dress the hostages in army-style uniforms couldn’t be more transparent. It was a deliberate ploy to insinuate that these women were legitimate military targets. And yet, the BBC and others, including Australia’s ABC News played right into this lie, lending credence to Hamas’s narrative.

Media Rehabilitate Released Terrorists

As part of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, Israel has agreed to release approximately 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 33 Israelis taken captive during Hamas’ terror attacks.

Saturday marked the second round of this so-called “first stage,” with 200 Palestinians walking free. Among them were more than 120 individuals serving life sentences for carrying out deadly attacks on Israelis — a reminder, if one were needed, of the kind of people Israel is being asked to trade for the return of its citizens.

And yet, outlets like The New York Times and the Associated Press went out of their way to engage in some serious image rehabilitation for the unrepentant mass murderers released, including when both chose to describe a terrorist serving a life sentence for attempted murder and planting an explosive as an “Islamic Jihad activist.”

Yes, “activist” — a term typically reserved for those campaigning for political or social change — was somehow deemed an appropriate label for a terrorist whose “activism” involved planning mass-casualty attacks on innocent civilians.

According to The New York Times, attempting to murder Jews on behalf of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is simply “activism.”

This isn’t journalism, @nytimes, it’s an apologism for terror. pic.twitter.com/Va8FlTMYUL

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 26, 2025

Meanwhile, CNN saw fit to elevate Haaretz journalist and terrorism apologist Gideon Levy, presenting his fringe views as though they reflected Israeli society. Incredibly, Levy was given a platform to draw a grotesque equivalence between the Israeli hostages and the released prisoners, referring to both as “hostages” and telling his CNN hosts they “may call” the convicted terrorists that.

“But at the same time, there are also dozens and dozens of released Palestinian hostages, and you may call them hostages.”

This is what happens when @CNN gives a platform to an extremist like Gideon Levy and attempts to pass him off as a mainstream Israeli commentator. pic.twitter.com/pC76fKJhQ4

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 25, 2025

Not to be outdone, The Washington Post gave the spotlight to infamous Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist Khalida Jarrar, most recently arrested in 2019 after a PFLP terror attack that claimed the life of 17-year-old Rina Shnerb.

In an astonishing act of journalistic omission, the Post conveniently ignored her direct ties to violence, instead painting her as yet another misunderstood political figure rather than a key player in a terror organization.

But perhaps the most absurd was the WaPo’s characterization of the PFLP itself as a mere “small leftist armed group” — a shockingly mild description for a proscribed terrorist organization responsible for atrocities like the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue massacre, where Jewish worshipers were brutally hacked to death with axes and knives by PFLP terrorists.

Note to @washingtonpost: Being a member of a “small leftist armed group,” i.e. a terrorist organization, does not make Jarrar a “political activist.”

Reminder: In August 2019, a PFLP terror cell carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year-old Rina Shnerb. pic.twitter.com/1iCC9tYJ2i

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 26, 2025

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.