Dan Abrams: Gaza Hostage Rescue Exposes Media ‘Hypocrisy’ Intent To ‘Paint Israel As The Bad Guys’

NewsNation anchor and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams said that coverage of Israel’s hostage rescue operation on Saturday exposed the “hypocrisy” of “Western media” coverage in its desire to “paint Israel as the bad guys.”

Showing headcam footage from the operation on his show Dan Abrams Live , the host argued that not only had the “unbelievable movie-like rescue successfully extracted four civilians from Gaza,” but it has “succeeded on a sort of different level than just the mission.”

Abrams explained: “It has successfully exposed the hypocrisy and lies from Hamas supporters around the world and in the media. That there is nothing, nothing that Israel can do in this war that will not be met with criticism. Even when Israel saves four of its civilian hostages, it will be met with this type of coverage in the Western media.”

The host showed clips from CBC News and CNN that focused on the claimed Palestinian death toll incurred during the operation. A further clip showed MSNBC guest Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) refer to the hostages as having been “released”: “The initial response obviously in Israel is joy and celebration at the release of four hostages who have been there for eight months. But the loss of life incurred in doing that is something that I think is horrifying.”

Abrams commented: “First, let’s get this straight. This wasn’t the release of four hostages, as MSNBC guest congressman Gerry Connolly would have you believe. Israel would have loved nothing more than for these hostages to be released. That would have saved many lives. They had to be rescued.”

He continued: “And yes, many people died during this rescue mission. Of course, Israel is taking all of the blame for that, which shows that many of these people do not actually want Israel to get the hostages back unless it’s on Hamas’ terms.”

Abrams went on to criticize what he perceived as a bias in the reporting of casualties figures: “You heard many in the media relaying the reports of the Hamas-run health ministry, quoting 274 killed, a report which seemed to have come out before the hostages were even back on Israeli soil. Never mind the fact that Israel claims that under 100 civilians died in the operation, and Hamas has only identified 86 people.”

The host then made a further point: “Hamas admits it doesn’t distinguish between civilians and terrorists.”

Adding to his argument, Abrams highlighted that Hamas positioned the hostages among civilians deliberately in “residential apartment buildings.”

He said: “The reason Israel went to this crowded area in the middle of the day was because that is where Hamas wanted the hostages to be. Hamas picked the location, not Israel.”

Questioning whether everyone painted as a civilian was one, Abrams explained that there were numerous reports that Israeli forces entered the family home of Dr. Ahmed al-Jamal where “the three male Israeli hostages” were being held.

The host added: “This family included 36-year-old journalist Abdullah al-Jamal , also someone who would be classified as a civilian. Both of them, as well as other members of this civilian family were killed during the operation. So the civilians that were allegedly killed during the Israeli rescue mission presumably includes the people holding hostages. Think about that.”

With further focus on Abdullah al-Jamal, who reportedly worked as a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Labor Ministry while also working as a journalist for Al Jazeera, per a bio on the outlet’s website, Abrams argued that this was “just another example of the lines being blurred between Hamas terrorists and media or government agency in Gaza.”

Rounding on Al Jazeera, whose Jerusalem bureau chief denied al-Jamal ever worked the company, Abrams pointed to the Israeli ban on the outlet amid claims its staff collaborated with and acted as mouthpiece for Hamas: “Doesn’t seem like so much of a crackpot theory anymore, does it?”

In a further revelation, Abrams shared that al-Jamal worked as a correspondent for The Palestine Chronicle, a registered non-profit in the United States.

Abrams concluded: “At the end of the day, these are all just the latest examples of how every single benefit of the doubt is being extended by the mainstream media when it comes to running with narratives that paint Israel as the bad guys, even when Israel scores a huge victory like the rescue of four civilian hostages. They’re still painted as the villains [yet] while Palestinians can be terrorists, they’re still called terrorists, journalists, or civilians.”

Watch above on NewsNation.