Following the brutality and human rights atrocities witnessed on Saturday as Hamas led a massive air, sea, and land invasion carried out in Israel, the coverage in much of the media has been of a disturbing nature. We have seen the blame placed on Israel, sympathetic approaches towards the Palestinians, and the BBC and others diminishing the attack while describing the response as disproportionate. 

On CNN, Fareed Zakaria allowed a Hamas mouthpiece to prattle on with lies about how they only captured military individuals, despite the videos of families kidnapped and children slaughtered, and claimed they only struck at targets that were armed installations. How a music festival (staged to actually promote peace to the region) where over 250 are believed to have been murdered is considered “military” is something the ineffectual Zakaria never thought to challenge him on.

But while many outlets want to diminish the atrocities and condemn Israel for daring to fight the barbarians with retaliatory strikes, we have seen gripping footage that these same outlets have provided, casting a completely different, even contradictory, light on the delivered narratives. Starting with Trey Yingst, from Fox News, with his live report as rocket fire was coming into the area from where he was reporting.

'GET DOWN, EVERYONE': Watch the heart-stopping moments @TreyYingst and the FOX crew take cover as explosions rock Israel during brutal conflict with Hamas. pic.twitter.com/pxXpK6iUUT

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 9, 2023

There was also Richard Engel doing a remote as he and his team had to take cover as mortar rounds were being launched into the neighborhood where they were located.

.@RichardEngel took cover from what appeared to be mortar fire and rockets while reporting in Sderot, Israel. He and his crew are safe.https://t.co/QZw5BZdxkm pic.twitter.com/F5eKxmtFsn

— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 9, 2023

Then, at CNN, Clarissa Ward was on the scene where the first portions of the incursion took place, and during her shot, she and the crew had to scramble to get to a safe location as rockets were fired into that area once again.

.@clarissaward reports from just minutes away from the Israel-Gaza border in the aftermath of a fresh barrage of rockets: pic.twitter.com/BPV7RP9K5o

— CNN International PR (@cnnipr) October 9, 2023

These segments produced no shortage of drama and gripping visuals, but they also delivered some harsh reality, namely that these incidents each took place inside of Israel. Trey Yingst was indicating how the Hamas rockets were of such volume as to hopefully overwhelm the famed Iron Dome anti-rocket system Israel has developed for its protection. All the reporters were experiencing attacks from Hamas, something a few of their own networks were striving to gloss over.

What we saw, as gripping as it was to experience from the vantage of a reporter, is a reality many residents inside Israel have had to contend with for years. These evasive actions are commonplace for many as these types of attacks from Palestinians are persistent. And, despite the agitprop delivered by “Tulkarm Rose” on CNN, those targets are frequently — almost exclusively — civilian in nature.  

It is rather galling to see these news outlets try to paint Israel as the unreasonable aggressor in these conflicts (as they attempt to bypass the significance of phrases such as “military response” and “retaliatory strikes”) while their own reporters are detailing the very aggression leading to Isreal’s reactions. It is one thing to attempt to gaslight the globe about the threats to the nation, but it turns pathetic when your own people are displaying the harsh reality faced by the Israelis.