Monday marked the one-year anniversary of barbarians from Gaza murdering and raping their way through southeast Israel, killing the men, women, children, the elderly, and young people at a concert. How did CBS Mornings choose to remember that day? By lamenting that Israel responded with the overwhelming force needed to neutralize the threat to innocent people, and lying by omission to suggest the Israeli Defense Forces had not rescued any hostages.
CBS foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer walked through the ruins of Kibbutz Be’eri as her report noted that October 7 included a “a pitiless attack on young people attending a music festival.” Adding: “It was chaos, a killing spree and mass kidnapping there and nearby Zikim where 101 were murdered, some burned alive in their homes and even babies abducted.”
Those facts were followed up by Palmer lamenting how “Israel's response was immediate. It bombed Gaza then sent in ground forces.” “As for the physical destruction, on a recent visit to southern Gaza with the military we saw nothing but ruins,” she mourned.
Palmer also seemed to suggest that Israel was intentionally bombing babies:
…two million Palestinians trapped in a sliver of land the Israeli military bombs every day. The target they say is Hamas. The collateral damage can be anyone else no matter how small.
As she made those comments, imaging of babies in hospitals flashed on the screen; without admitting that Hamas uses human shields.
Through lying by omission, Palmer suggested that the IDF had not been successful in rescuing any hostages. “The mission: to destroy Hamas and rescue the hostages. A year later, neither has been accomplished,” she proclaimed.
She also pushed a conspiracy theory that the Israeli government didn’t want to the bring the hostages home (Click “expand”):
PALMER: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in hiding, is stalling on a deal and vowing to fight on.
PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: We will win
PALMER: And millions of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-right allies are stalling, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We see that our government are full of shi[ bleep ] -- Excuse my language. And they do nothing. Our prime minister is a liar.
PALMER: Over the past month, Israel's government has led the country into a bigger, riskier war.
CBS’s own reporting back in August noted that the IDF had rescued eight hostages. That report, as with Palmer’s, failed to mention that United Nations employees took part in the capture and captivity of the hostages.
Those rescued hostages were also ignored during Palmer’s follow up report in the next hour, when she spoke with Moran Yanai, a woman who was held hostage by Hamas but was released in a trade for terrorists. “In November, there was a cease-fire. Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli jails, and Hamas let 105 hostages go in batches over seven days,” Palmer said.
In between Palmer’s reports, co-hosts Tony Dokoupil, Gayle King, and Nate Burleson spoke with Leat Corinne Unger, who’s cousin Omer Shem Tov was still being held hostage.
In keeping with Palmer’s narrative, Burleson and King tried to tee up Unger to blame the Israeli government for her cousin’s continued captivity:
BURLESON: In your opinion, what do you believe is the biggest obstacle of why there has not been a hostage deal done?
(…)
KING: What do you believe, as we sit here today, what it will take to reach a deal?
But she didn’t bite, keeping the focus on Hamas. “I mean, the Biden administration has made it clear that the biggest obstacle is Yahya Sinwar,” she said. “But I think that the international community has failed to pressure Hamas through Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, and they are prioritizing political interests instead of prioritizing the sanctity of human life.”
Burleson got a little more direct in where he wanted the criticism to go. “How do you feel about the job Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing?” he asked. Unger did say she felt Netanyahu’s “focus is on other things right now. It hasn't prioritized the hostages” as attention moved to the threat in the north.
She did commend the work going on up there in targeting more of Israel’s enemies. “I think it's great that we've made advancements with Hezbollah and taken out a lot of their leaders, but I wish he focused on his commitment to bring back innocent people who were stolen from their beds and from a field,” she said.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS Mornings
October 7, 2024
7:06:46 a.m. Eastern(…)
ELIZABETH PALMER: This is Kibbutz Be’eri, about three miles from Gaza. And reminders of the massacre are everywhere like the burned out house you can see behind me. It's where Hamas murdered Yuval Haran's father and kidnapped his mother and six other members of the family. It's just one of the traumatic stories that Israelis are reliving today, a year after the October 7th attack.
[Cuts to video]
The attack began with Hamas terrorists shooting their way out of Gaza, past Israeli border security to launch a pitiless attack on young people attending a music festival. It was chaos, a killing spree and mass kidnapping there and nearby Zikim where 101 were murdered, some burned alive in their homes and even babies abducted.
Israel's response was immediate. It bombed Gaza then sent in ground forces. The mission -- to destroy Hamas and rescue the hostages. A year later, neither has been accomplished. 97 hostages taken on October 7th are presumed still to be in Gaza along with two million Palestinians trapped in a sliver of land the Israeli military bombs every day. The target they say is Hamas. The collateral damage can be anyone else no matter how small.
As for the physical destruction, on a recent visit to southern Gaza with the military we saw nothing but ruins.
Recent polling data shows a slim majority of Israelis want the war in Gaza to end in a deal to bring the hostages home. Easier said than done.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in hiding, is stalling on a deal and vowing to fight on.
PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: We will win
PALMER: And millions of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-right allies are stalling, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We see that our government are full of shi[ bleep ] -- Excuse my language. And they do nothing. Our prime minister is a liar.
PALMER: Over the past month, Israel's government has led the country into a bigger, riskier war.
[Cuts back to live]
Most of the hostages' families fear that means a death sentence for their loved ones. As one speaker said at a memorial we attended this morning, we all know this war is going to end in an agreement, it's just a question of how many lives will be lost between now and then.
(…)
7:41:58 a.m. Eastern
NATE BURLESON: In your opinion, what do you believe is the biggest obstacle of why there has not been a hostage deal done?
LEAT CORINNE UNGER: I mean, the Biden administration has made it clear that the biggest obstacle is Yahya Sinwar. But I think that the international community has failed to pressure Hamas through Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, and they are prioritizing political interests instead of prioritizing the sanctity of human life.
GAYLE KING: Yeah, Sinwar is the head of Hamas.
UNGER: Yes.
KING: What do you believe, as we sit here today, what it will take to reach a deal?
UNGER: I think now that we're looking this northern front, we need to deescalate the situation and avoid a regional war, and the hostages must be at the top of the priority list. There should be no discussion of a cease-fire deal without a discussion of the hostages. So, if the international community comes together and really prioritizes human life and wants to avoid continued suffering in the region, which it's been a year of ongoing suffering.
KING: Haven't they done that, Leat? Hasn't the international come together and say this has got to end? I'm trying to figure out what will it take to finally move the needle on it.
UNGER: It's a good question. You know, I'm not a political adviser. I don't have any knowledge of it. At the end of the day, if they've done it, it hasn't been enough because at the end of the day Omer and 100 other hostages are not home.
(…)
7:44:18 a.m. Eastern
BURLESON: How do you feel about the job Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing?
UNGER: I think his focus is on other things right now. It hasn't prioritized the hostages. I think it's great that we've made advancements with Hezbollah and taken out a lot of their leaders, but I wish he focused on his commitment to bring back innocent people who were stolen from their beds and from a field.
(…)
