Why Won’t the Media Tell the Truth About UNRWA’s Connection to Palestinian Terrorism?

Few. Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands.

Each of these words denotes vastly different quantities. They all provide important information in war coverage, where numbers play an important role. For instance, an Oct. 30 Reuters headline states: “Israeli strike kills dozens in north Gaza residential block, US calls incident ‘horrifying.’“

The first paragraphs of Nidal Al-Mughrabi’s accompanying story provide more details about the dozens of reported fatalities:

At least 93 Palestinians were killed or missing and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya on Tuesday, the Gaza health ministry said, and the U.S. called the incident “horrifying”.

Medics said at least 20 children were among the dead.

“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them,” the territory’s health ministry said in a statement.

Later on Tuesday, Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza government media office, put the number of fatalities at 93.

That’s a great deal of emphasis on numbers. Clearly, numbers are newsworthy, and their accurate depiction is essential for reliable reporting. Thus, with regard to the 93 Palestinians reported killed or missing, Reuters’ headline rightly refers to “dozens,” not “a few.”

Yet, when it comes to the thousands of UNRWA staffers whom Israel has accused of holding membership in terror organizations, with hundreds of them said to be serving as military operatives, Reuters’ recounting of numbers suddenly lacks the precision which characterized the reporting of the reported Palestinian fatalities.

Not only does Al-Mughrabi fail to report the actual number, but his stand in for the figure is downright false.

Thus, Al-Mughrabi grossly underreports the number of UNRWA employees that Israel has said belong to terror organizations, erring:

Israeli officials cited the involvement of a handful of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees’ thousands of staffers in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and a few staffers’ membership in Hamas and other armed groups. [Emphasis added.]

“Few” means a small number. And yet Israel has accused more than 2000 UNRWA staffers of belonging to terror organizations.

“Few” is not a fair stand in for more than 90 reported fatalities, and Reuters rightly cited “dozens” in that case. All the more so, “few” is a false representation of more than 450 reported UNRWA staffers who moonlight as military operatives.

With respect to more than 2,000, which is how many UNRWA staffers Israel has accused of possessing membership in Hamas or other terror organizations (either as military operatives or otherwise), “few” is a farce.

As Reuters itself reported in March, Israel cited more than 450 UNRWA employees moonlighting for Hamas as military operatives (“Israel says over 450 UN aid agency workers in Gaza are ‘military operatives“).

Reuters reported at the time:

Israel’s military said on Monday that the U.N. aid agency UNRWA in Gaza employed over 450 “military operatives” from Hamas and other armed groups, and that Israel has shared this intelligence with the United Nations. . . .

“Over 450 UNRWA employees are military operatives in terror groups in Gaza. Over 450. This is no mere coincidence. This is systematic. There is no claiming ‘We did not know’,” military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in a briefing.

“We sent the information that I am sharing now, as well as further intelligence, to our international partners, including the U.N.,” he said.

#Breaking: IDF Spokesperson releases a full statement on UNRWA:

“Over 450 @UNRWA employees are military operatives in terror groups in Gaza… This is no mere coincidence, this is systematic. There is no claiming: ‘we didn’t know.’” pic.twitter.com/hJFHZA86ps

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 5, 2024

Moreover, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has cited more than 2,315 UNRWA employees with membership in Hamas or Islamic Jihad — meaning both “military operatives” and members with non-combat positions (administrative, finance, propaganda, social welfare, education, etc).

Voice of America quoted Adi Farjon, deputy permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva:

“For example, it is a fact, that 19 members of the organization took an active part in the October 7 terrorist attack. It is also a fact that more than 2,135 UNRWA workers in Gaza are members of either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” she said.

Last week, CAMERA contacted Reuters reminding editors of its own coverage of Israel’s information concerning the several hundred UNRWA employees who double as terror operatives, and also informing the news agency about the Foreign Ministry’s information regarding 2,135 UNRWA staffers who belong to terror groups. Yet, as of this writing, Reuters has failed to rectify the “few” falsehood.

Reducing thousands to a few gives readers a “few” reasons to question Reuters’ stated commitment to trust, integrity, and freedom of bias.

The Arabic version of the same Reuters article also grossly underreports the number of UNRWA employees Israel has accused of belonging to terror groups. It says that “a small number of staffers joined Hamas and other armed groups.”

Tamar Sternthal is the director of CAMERA’s Israel Office. A version of this article previously appeared on the CAMERA website.

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