Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, a troubling pattern has emerged across mainstream media outlets: the uncritical use of casualty figures provided by Hamas. We are deeply concerned about the implications of this practice for public discourse and journalistic integrity and have reached out to those responsible for ethics and standards at several outlets to express our concerns directly:
To whom it may concern,
We are writing to express our concern over the continued use of Hamas-provided casualty figures in your outlets reporting on the Israel-Hamas war.
🧵BOMBSHELL: Hamas’ new March 2025 fatality list quietly drops 3,400 fully “identified” deaths listed in its Aug & Oct 2024 reports—including 1,080 children. These “deaths” never happened. The numbers were falsified—again. Examples, analysis and evidence: 1/ pic.twitter.com/30VHnisSQ6
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) March 31, 2025
An additional report by the Henry Jackson Society documented how Hamas had systematically inflated civilian casualty numbers to suggest that Israel targets non-combatants.
A new report exposes how Hamas inflates Gaza’s death toll. Over 80% of media rely on unverified numbers from Hamas-run sources, creating a distorted narrative. A terrorist organization shouldn’t be the world’s fact-checker. It’s time for the media to question, not blindly trust. pic.twitter.com/3Os5IHf7JE
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 20, 2024
Despite the IDF releasing videos and photographs throughout the war which display Hamas embedding itself in civilian infrastructure — including schools, mosques, and hospitals — these tactics are dismissed as “unverified.”
Relying on numbers disseminated by a terrorist organization not only undermines journalistic integrity but also misleads the public and fuels dangerous narratives. The consequences of misinformation are far-reaching. Misreporting inflames tensions, fuels antisemitism, and distorts the reality of the conflict for global audiences.
We urge you to add a disclaimer to articles when citing casualty figures such as “According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures have been repeatedly disputed and revised.”
We look forward to seeing your continued commitment to journalistic integrity.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
All our best,
HonestReporting
Journalists play a critical role in informing the public. That responsibility comes with the duty to question sources, especially when those sources are affiliated with terrorist organizations that use propaganda as a weapon of war. Upholding accuracy, skepticism, and context is not just good journalism – it is essential for truth and accountability.
We await the responses from various media outlets, including Reuters, The Guardian, NPR, and The Washington Post. Thus far, we have heard from The Economist, whose generic response stated that “accuracy and integrity in reporting are of utmost importance.” We hope they remain committed to journalistic standards, and going forward, amend their articles with a disclaimer of Hamas’ faulty casualty figures.
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