JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel’s Security Cabinet meets today to determine the next phase of the war against Hamas. The decision the leaders make will affect the future of Gaza and the fate of the hostages.
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the cabinet’s course will revolve around the final goals of the war: the complete defeat of Hamas and freedom for the remaining hostages.
The campaign may include five Israel Defense Forces divisions, will last for as long as five months, and will involve the relocation of up to one million Gazans.
Former IDF officer Jonathan Conricus, now with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, tells CBN News Israel stands at a crossroads.
“I would say that it’s money time. It’s either do or die,” Conricus said. “We either bow to international pressure and lose the war, and the direct result of the October 7th massacre will be Hamas gets recognition for a Palestinian state, which will be a total catastrophe and failure – and I pray that is what will not happen. Or, Israel stays the course, disregards international pressure, makes sure that it has the most important and most powerful ally in the world on our side, the United States of America, and continues to fight what is – I think is – a very just war, that is, defend Israelis from the scourge of terrorism.”
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Meanwhile, the German publication Bild exposed that many photos of starving Gazans have been staged. Their report was cited by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“We see a PR campaign like this one. This is from yesterday from German media,” Herzog said on Wednesday. “You see a photographer staging Gaza people to show they are lacking food, while there is food there behind them. But this is a staging effort.”
Herzog insists Israel is providing massive amounts of humanitarian aid and food for the people of Gaza.
“So, we don’t shy away from the humanitarian need to help the people of Gaza, but we ask the world not to fall for the lies,” Herzog declared. “Condemn Hamas and say to Hamas, ‘You want to move on? Get the hostages out.'”
Conricus confirmed, “I saw the report by Bild, and I wasn’t surprised. We’ve seen this for 15,20 years: Gazan or otherwise Palestinian photographers, some of them working for reputable news agencies like Reuters, AFP, AP, and many others. They doctor images, they orchestrate them, and the term “Gazawood” or “Pallywood” wasn’t invented this war. It’s something that has been going on for decades or more than a generation.”
He added, “The Palestinians are masterful at not only fabricating visuals or imagery but also who to peddle it to and to find the useful and lazy idiots to use it and then shape hearts and minds and even get real world results.”
Gazawood or Pallywood refers to how Hamas and others stage Hollywood-style scenes to manipulate the media.
“Sadly, Hamas is manipulating international media,” Conricus claimed. “Really, they have them wrapped around their little finger, feeding them bait stories and cooked images.”
We asked Gil Hoffman, the director of media watchdog HonestReporting, about the current campaign called “Starvation in Gaza,” and asked him to describe the media reporting on the campaign.
He responded, “Well, they’ve certainly tried to prove this point of view that they have. And it’s not true. There is food in Gaza. You can go into a market right now. You can go to a cafe, you can buy food. Israel’s made sure that there’s more food in Gaza than there was before the October 7th attacks there. Israel has given an unprecedented amount of food and aid to an enemy population, (the most) in the history of mankind on this earth, and yet the media has proceeded with this campaign. They’ve, unfortunately, prolonged this war that could have ended by now.”
