What Really Happened at Gaza’s Al-Baqa Cafe?

On June 30, the IDF carried out a targeted strike in Gaza City.

As is now routine, Palestinians on the ground quickly supplied a detailed death toll — more than 30 killed and dozens more injured, along with other vivid embellishments. Media outlets around the world eagerly picked up the story. Once again, tales of an alleged Israeli assault on innocent civilians made headlines before a single detail could be verified.

Here’s a sample of how the media reported the incident:

The New York Times cited Al-Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya, reporting that “more than 30 people had been killed” at the seaside cafe. The article later quoted a Hamas statement claiming Israel had “targeted innocent civilians gathered at a rest stop on the Gaza City beach.” No scrutiny of either source was offered.

The Guardian went a step further, suggesting the strike may have been a war crime. It cited unnamed “experts” who claimed the IDF used a 500lb bomb, supposedly based on “fragments” found at the scene.

ABC News’ (Australia) framing implied journalists were the intended targets, describing the cafe as a spot “frequented by journalists, media workers, activists and students.” The reported death toll, again, came from Gaza’s “civil defense agency,” i.e. Hamas.

NPR blurred the lines between separate incidents, running the headline: “74 killed in Gaza as Israeli forces strike a cafe and fire on people seeking food.”

CNN quoted “hospital officials” who claimed “dozens” were killed, while also noting that the cafe was popular with journalists and “remote workers” in Gaza.

We’re not going to dissect every example of hearsay, exaggeration, or recycled talking points in these articles. What matters is that they were all based on sources under Hamas control, and they all omitted critical details.

So let’s try and piece this puzzle together.

• The IDF confirmed it had targeted the Al-Baqa cafe, a venue located on Gaza City’s seafront promenade. According to the Israeli military, the strike was aimed at Hamas operatives in northern Gaza. The IDF is currently awaiting confirmation that a senior Hamas figure was among those eliminated.
• As with all operations where civilians could be harmed, the IDF would have conducted a legal and ethical assessment prior to the strike. The munition used was a precision-guided bomb, a standard bomb equipped with a JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) kit, which converts “dumb” bombs into highly accurate ones. As former Israeli diplomat and Jerusalem Center fellow Lenny Ben-David noted, this directly contradicts The Guardian’s suggestion that use of a 500lb bomb may constitute a war crime. On the contrary, precision strikes are exactly what international law demands.
• The source of the death toll was not even the Hamas-run health ministry, but Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya. He is the hospital director previously detained by Israel after the IDF exposed and documented a Hamas command center beneath Al-Shifa Hospital. Abu Salmiya has since alleged he was tortured while in custody, including claims of daily beatings and dog attacks. He has offered no evidence for any of these allegations, many of which border on the farcical.

• Several media outlets also emphasized that Al-Baqa was popular with journalists. Many cited Gazan journalist Bayan Abu Sultan, who was reportedly injured in the strike. Multiple outlets published images of her appearing bloodied. Yet video footage taken shortly afterward shows Bayan, in the same clothes, laughing and smiling. The footage raises serious questions about both the timeline of the alleged injuries and the media’s failure to verify dramatic visuals before publication.

• NPR added another layer, tying the strike to the broader humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza and describing scenes of desperation and starvation. That narrative, too, deserves scrutiny. Al-Baqa, located in the very region said to be facing famine, was not only operating on June 30 but also serving food and drinks to patrons. Photos and videos from the area reveal other similarly active cafes and shops, casting further doubt on the picture painted by the press.

So what are we left with?

A cafe said to be in a starving war zone, but bustling with customers. A journalist supposedly injured in a deadly blast, laughing minutes later. A death toll provided by a Hamas-linked hospital chief with a history of unverifiable claims. And media headlines that include all of the above.

The full truth may be complex, but it certainly isn’t the one presented by much of the international press. Whether or not civilians were tragically caught in the strike, the media’s rush to blame Israel, echo Hamas narratives, and ignore inconvenient facts has once again undermined honest journalism.

We’ll let readers draw their own conclusions. But when the scene of a so-called humanitarian disaster is a lively beachfront cafe, and “injured victims” are smiling on camera shortly afterward, it’s clear some elements of the story just don’t add up.

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.

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