London, UK – A new report by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) has raised serious questions about the accuracy of casualty figures provided by Hamas during the recent conflict in Gaza. The report, titled “Skewed Numbers: Unmasking Hamas Propaganda in the Media,” analyzes media coverage and finds a pattern of bias towards Hamas-reported numbers.
The report highlights several key findings:
- Media Reliance on Hamas Numbers: 84% of media outlets analyzed failed to distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, and 98% cited Hamas figures without questioning their source.
- Data Discrepancies: Inconsistencies were found in reported ages and genders, with men listed as women and children inflated in number. The report suggests Hamas may be including deaths from natural causes in their figures.
- Media Bias: The report argues that the West’s media has taken a conscious decision to prioritize Hamas narratives, potentially influencing international opinion against Israel.
The author of the report, Andrew Fox, emphasizes that these inaccuracies contribute to the perception that civilians, particularly women and children, are disproportionately targeted by Israel. He argues that media outlets should not rely solely on Hamas figures and should conduct independent investigations.
Media Response and Allegations of Bias:
The report has sparked controversy, with some media outlets defending their coverage and criticizing the HJS for its pro-Israel stance. The BBC, for example, responded by pointing to the difficulty of reporting on casualty figures in Gaza due to Israeli restrictions on access for international journalists. However, critics argue that the BBC has correspondents in Gaza and should utilize them for independent verification.
Implications:
The HJS report raises concerns about the accuracy of information disseminated during conflicts and exposes potential biases in media coverage. It underscores the importance of critical analysis of data sources and independent verification of casualty figures. The report is likely to fuel ongoing debates about media responsibility and the challenges of reporting in conflict zones.
According to the report, also occur during a war. The pre-war rate of natural deaths in Gaza is known from relevant mortality data presented by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, based in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Media reports claiming totals killed in Gaza by IDF action have not verified the figures cited and fail to account for the deaths of upwards of 17,000 Hamas and affiliated combatants as part of that toll.
This report also shows that the methodology of data collection by the Ministry of Health is not scientifically valid, and that its reports from previous conflicts have also concealed combatant deaths.
This fatality analysis recognises the immense toll of the war on Palestinians in Gaza. Even as fatalities are discussed as quantifiable numbers, it is important to remember that innocent people are suffering, and each number represents a human life. Many of those lives were innocent people caught in the middle of a brutal war started by Hamas on 7 October. The suffering, death and destruction are very real for actual human beings.
An understanding of the Gaza fatality data is critical in understanding the conduct of the war by the Israel Defense Forces and the State of Israel’s leadership. International humanitarian law does not require that no harm happen to civilians. Rather, it demands that parties to war use their best efforts to mitigate harm to civilians. All parties to a war are required to adhere to certain rules of war. As the United Nations frequently posits: “even war has rules”. When one party in a war disregards the rules, the consequences do not convict the other party or prevent them from prosecuting the war.
Global media outlets have, understandably, focused on the number of deaths in Gaza as a lens of critique of Israeli operations. Many media outlets give the proviso that the Gaza Ministry of Health is Hamas-run, but few give the same level of attention to IDF reports of the numbers of fighters killed as part of the overall Israeli fatality total. Nor do media outlets give the methodology, reporting or content of the lists of names the scrutiny they deserve.
A definitive figure of fatalities is impossible, due to the lack of transparency from the MoH, a general lack of access to the Palestinian Population Registry and the challenges of counting militants killed in combat. However, this report finds numerous errors that cannot be explained by a lack of access to the Ministry of Health computer network that went offline in November 2023.
The report has identified distortion of statistics, misreporting of natural deaths, deaths from before the war started and a high likelihood of combatant deaths being included on the list. This report also challenges the assumption that MoH fatality reports from previous conflicts are reliable and reveals evidence of efforts to hide militant fatalities. It also identify critical differences in the demographic breakdowns reported by the MoH and the Hamas Government Media Office.